Queen of the Sandworms
by Bat13SJx
Summary: Beetlejuice is taken in to face the judge once again for his horrible pranks and heinous crimes. For his punishment, Lydia is sent to Sandwormland. Beetlejuice gathers up his courage and goes down to Sandwormland to save Lydia. There he finds that she has become one with the Sandworms. Will Beetlejuice be able to save her and get her sanity back? Or is he too late?
1. Chapter 1: Punishment

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1: Punishment<strong>

**...**

Beetlejuice yawned and lightly patted his open mouth with his pale, red tipped hand as he half listened to the judge's words. He stood in the middle of a lit circle with the judge's over-exaggerated bench looming over him. Around him was total darkness, making the courtroom more sinister and eerie.

The judge was a skeleton wrapped in black robes. Perched on his skull was a white powdered wig. He held his gavel in his right bony hand. His white face glowed in the dim lighting.

Lydia stood a good distance away from Beetlejuice. She wore her usual scarlet red spiderweb poncho over a black tight coverall. She fumbled her fingerless gloved hands nervously. This was the nine-hundredth time this year Beetlejuice had to come before the judge. It made her very worried that the judge was really going to punish him for his wrong doings.

The Ghost with the Most glanced over at Kydia and gave her a crooked grin. He wore his usual, signature black and white striped suit. His blonde hair was uncombed and reeked of century old garbage. His emerald green eyes didn't read any emotions of worry.

He looked rather childish, as if he knew everything was going to be ok. He has gotten away with mischief countless times. This event was just another addition to the count...901 to be precise; but to Lydia... she felt something bad was going to happen to her best friend. She could feel it.

"Beetlejuice," said the judge in a cold, dark voice. Beetlejuice whipped his head back around and faced the black shrouded skeleton in the powdered wig. "Yes, Judgey?" he asked, flashing his rotten yellow teeth to him. The judge loomed over the striped clad ghostand narrowed his dark sockets.

"Your actions here in the Neither World have gone too far," he said. Beetlejuice pretended to look upset, but both Lydia and the judge could see a smile curl upward on his pale face.

"Aw, really? I thought I was improving." he couldn't help but to chuckle at his own words. The judge was not amused. Beetlejuice cleared his throat.

"Give me another chance. I can feel myself really making progress. Lydia has been with me almost everyday and she has seen herself! Right, Babes?" he asked as he turned his head over to Lydia. Lydia hesitated on answering her friend. She fumbled with her hands again.

They really got themselves into a big mess this time...well...Beetlejuice was the one who did the mess. He was always pulling pranks on people, putting gremlins down the mayor's pants, releasing wild creatures into the cities to start destroying buildings, but this time...this time he had gone too far.

The jury was shadowed in the darkness as they watched the striped clad ghost float there with a smirk on his face. The attorney shifted in his seat with an irritated look on his face as he tried rifling through his papers.

The judge sighed at Beetlejuice's lie. "I have had enough of your lies. You are not improving in the slightest. You continue to literally reek havoc all over the Neitherworld and disturb the nonliving."

Beetlejuice turned to Lydia. "So what do you think, Lyds? Should I give him the dance number I worked on yesterday? or the rehearsed scene with you fainting and me saving you?" he asked her. Lydia shook her head. "I don't think any of them are going to work this time, Beetlejuice...I have a horrible feeling that-" Beetlejuice pressed his cold index finger to her black lipsticked lips and gave her a crooked toothy grin.

"Relax, Babes. I have this in the bag," The Ghost with the Most said as he turned into a huge brown paper bag. "We always are able to get out of sticky situations like this," then he turned into a wad of gum.

"I...I don't know, Beetlejuice-" Lydia started again, but was interrupted when the judge spoke again.

"I find you...guilty," he said. Beetlejuice rolled his eyes and hovered over where a trapdoor was supposed to appear. Instead of hearing the usual gasps in the jury, he heard a scream near him. He opened his eyes and turned his head, just as Lydia fell through a trap door.

"Lydia!" Beetlejuice screamed as he watched her fall through the open trap door. "Beetlejuice!" she screamed with her arms flailing over her head. He flew over toward her. Just as he did, he saw a Sandworm head appear from below. Fear jolted through him and he instantly froze up at the sight of the horrible creature. The trapdoor closed. Beetlejuice skidded along the cold ground where Lydia once stood. His yellow tinted eyes were wide.

"H-Hold on, Lydia! I'm coming!" he yelled at the floor. He tried scratching his nails along the ground to find the trapdoor, but it was turned into a black and white striped cat and clawed furiously at the ground. When that didn't work, he turned into a jackhammer and tried creating a hole in the ground. Nothing worked. He finally turned back to his normal form. Heaving and gasping out of exhaustion.

The jury whispered amongst themselves and seemed to be happy with the choice that was just made.

Beetlejuice felt panic flood through his entire body. He finally turned to the judge with rage in his eyes. Steam blew out of his pointy ears and his face turned red as he flew up to the judge's bony face.

"Bring my Lydia back NOW!" he screamed as his face turned into a huge hideous monster face. "If this is a joke, you messed with the wrong ghost to pull a prank on!" he shouted angrily. The judge stifled a cringe at Beetlejuice's horrible form and shook his skull head.

"I'm sorry, Beetlejuice, but you did this to yourself. You have been warned so many times, that we had to do what we had to do," Beetlejuice instantly felt very cold and stiff. His fault...

His face changed back to its normal state. "No...no! How could you?! She's my best friend! You cant do this! She doesnt deserve this!" he screamed.

The judge shook his head. "There is nothing that will change our minds. She has been sent to Sandworm Land-"

"No! She will die! She wont last for five minutes out there! Please oh please oh pllleeaaasee! Bring her back! I-I don't want her down there! Please-!"

"NO!" the judge shouted loudly, making the whole place shake. The whole dark courtroom fell silent. Beetlejuice instantly turned small and flaoted back to the ground.

The judge glared down at the black and white striped clad ghost from his place.

"What's done is done! Lydia is being punished for your wrong-doings. I cannot bring Lydia back until you behave yourself. She will stay down there till we feel that you have been punished enough... And that is final!" the judge said as he brought down his gavel

Right when the hammer made contact with the skull on the desk, Beetlejuice felt as if his heart exploded. Lydia was trapped in the realm of the Sandworms, the one place he feared the most... and he couldn't do anything about it!


	2. Chapter 2: Nightmares

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2: Nightmares <strong>

**...**

_Beetlejuice opened his eyes and found himself in the middle of a strange desert. He didnt seem to understand how he ended up there. The amber-gold sands blew along, creating dunes and moving along in the winds. The sky was a deep ocean blue and a couple planets were seen in the distance._

_Beetlejuice tried walking, but felt too tired and weak. He tried floating, but his legs all the sudden felt heavy like lead. He stared down at them, puzzled. Suddenly he heard his name. _

_"Beetlejuice!" a female voice cried. The voice sounded like Lydia's. Beetlejuice swiveled his head around. "Lydia?!" he called back. He tried moving, but he was stuck. _

_Suddenly the sound of a roar was followed. Beetlejuice stiffened as the sand began to move in the distance. Sandworms! He turned back to his legs and tried pulling on them. They wouldn't budge._

_His breathing became rapid and quick as he tried moving. He flapped his arms, tried transforming into a plane, a cheetah, a bouncy ball. Anything to get him to move! Nothing worked! He was stuck!_

_ "Beetlejuice!" the voice screamed again, this time it was closer._

_The sands stung his eyes as he strained to look for her in the sea of sand. _

_"Lydia! Heeellpp!" Beetlejuice screamed back and tried running. Suddenly the sands shifted close by. Beetlejuice screamed and tried moving. He froze up when he felt the sand rain down on the back of his suit. He slowly turned around and gapped at the horrific sight._

_A Sandworm came up from out of the sand. Hanging halfway out of its open jaws, was Lydia. She screamed as dark blood came pouring out from her stomach and dribbled down the Sandworm's green lips. _

_Beetlejuice screamed in terror. "Lyyydddiiiaa!" -_

Beetlejuice screamed as he sat bolt upright in bed. He breathed heavily as he clutched his chest where his once beating heart sat. Sweat rolled down the sides of his head as the nightmare repeated over and over in his head.

He breathing slowed and he removed his hand from over his heart.

It was just a nightmare...though...how could he know if what he saw in his nightmare was happening at that exact moment? He stared down at the pictures of beetles decorated all over his pajamas. Instead of seeing them, he saw Lydia.

"Lydia..." he whispered.

Tears formed in his bloodshot eyes. He shook his head and quickly wiped them away with the back of his hand. His dirty shoulder length blonde hair went over his face. His face was unshaven and the dark circles under his eyes seemed darker then before.

It has been three days since he stood before the judge...and lost Lydia. Since then, he had stayed in his room, grieving over the loss of his best friend. Everyone in the Neitherworld were both puzzled, and happy by the absence of the poltergeist and celebrated.

Beetlejuice could faintly hear all the dead citizens of the town playing strange music and dancing, but he just ignored them and continued to sit in his bed. He only cared of rescuing Lydia...and only him knows how many times he tried.

He was unable to enter through any way to Sandworm Land..though even if he had the courage or mindset to, the sudden fear of Sandworms pierced through his insides and made him curl up into a shivering little ball.

On top of that... how did he know if she was still alive? Wouldn't she have called his name three times already? Maybe she did and it wouldn't allow him to enter...

"Beetlejuice..." Lydia's voice called faintly through his head.

An image of the young raven haired girl in her spider webbed red poncho and black tight coverall stayed stuck in his head. Lydia. His one and only true friend...How could he have been so selfish?!

Beetlejuice sighed and placed his hands over his pale white face. "I am so sorry...so sorry...!" he cried into his hands. A beetle crawled out from its home in the wall and scuttled around. Beetlejuice didn't bother catching it. All he cared about was having Lydia back.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Go away," Beetlejuice said in a sad, low voice. The door opened anyway and a familiar skeleton in a blue shirt and shorts came into the room, followed by a pink spider.

"'Ello Be-etle juice...'Ow are you a feelin'?" Jacques asked his beetle-loving friend. Beetlejuice didn't say anything as he rolled over on his side, his back facing them. Ginger and Jacques exchanged sad glances.

"Come on Beetlejuice. Please get out of bed. It's already been three days and you haven't eaten a single beetle..." Ginger said. Beetlejuice's stomach growled and muttered to him: "I'm starving!"

Beetlejuice wrapped his arms around his stomach to muffle the sounds and didn't move. Jacques came up next to the bed. "Please, Be-etlejuice. We know you miss Lydia a lot...we a miss 'er too. If she were 'ere, she would tell you to get out of bed-" "No she wouldn't!" Beetlejuice shouted, making Jacques take a step back from his friend's bed.

"If she were here, I would not even be in bed! I would be spending my time with her! She was the only reason I got out of bed every morning! Now..." His voice became low and sad. "Now she's gone...so what's the point...?" he sighed and lifted the sheet over his head and cocooned himself from the world.

Jacques turned his skull over to Ginger, who narrowed her eyes angrily at what Beetlejuice just said. "I can't believe you, Beetlejuice!" she yelled as she came marching up to Beetlejuice's bed.

Jacques helped her up onto the poltergeist's bed and ripped the covers away from Beetlejuice's body. Beetlejuice's dark eyes widened at the sight of the tap-dancing spider. She glared down at his face as she stood on his chest. Her mouth almost touching his pointy nose.

"This is not like you! You can't bring yourself down like this! You sent Lydia down in Sandwormland, you should go and rescue her!" Ginger yelled angrily. Beetlejuice blinked, quiet for a moment. "But...I...I tried-" "You haven't tried hard enough!" the spider interrupted him and waved his words away.

"If you care so much about Lydia, then nothing should be stopping you, especially yourself!" she said. Beetlejuice was taken aback by Ginger's words. She was right. Beetlejuice shouldn't be upset at himself. He should try to find Lydia! There had to be one slight sliver of hope that she survived and was waiting for him to save her!

Ginger jumped into Jacques's arms when Beetlejuice floated out of his bed. A huge grin had crept along his face. Instantly his pajamas changed into his signature striped suit. His eyes didnt look bloodshot anymore and were narrowed, but full of motivation and determination to enter into Sandwormland and find Lydia.

"Hold on, Lydia! I'm coming!" he said and instantly disappeared out of the room. Jacques and Ginger looked at each other in surprise, then smiled and hugged each other.

...


	3. Chapter 3: An Opening

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: An Opening<strong>

**...**

Beetlejuice appeared outside of his roadhouse. His sides ached a lot and his eyes were sore from the brightness of the Neitherworld sun. He rubbed them before opening them back up and started scanning his surroundings. No dead creature was around. Beetlejuice took a deep breath and exhaled. It felt good to be out again.

He stretched his back which made a series of loud cracks and pops. He sighed happily then turned his head over to the sounds of the city where people were celebrating. He narrowed his eyes and looked away from them. He didn't care about them at the moment, he needed to find Lydia.

"Ok! Time to get things started!" he said as he slapped his pale white hands and rubbed them together."Let's see...what to try first...?" The striped clad ghost asked himself as he scratched the side of his head with his red tipped fingernails.

He decided to try transforming into water to go through the cracks. His body turned from a solid to liquid and instantly fell through the cracks. He only got halfway till he got stuck.

He narrowed his green eyes and went back to the surface. Then he tried being lava. Still nothing. After a couple minutes of changing to every liquid or somewhat liquid form he could imagine, he finally stopped. He sighed and pulled himself together after turning into grape juice. He sat on the ground staring down.

What was he doing? He has done this a bajillion times already! Why did he listen to Ginger? What did she know? Lydia was gone! End of story! Beetlejuice looked back to the roadhouse, instantly wishing he just stayed inside his bed. His dark, sunken in eyes began to turn back to their bloodshot state.

"I should just give up..." Beetlejuice said to himself. "Who am I kidding? Lydia has already been digested by now...Ginger doesn't know anything...she's just a spider..." he sighed. Just a spider who will continue to nag at him for the rest of his afterlife! Beetlejuice closed his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth.

No...he had to do something. Anything! Anything was better then Ginger talking nonstop to him about Lydia... That was possibly one of the reasons why he left the house...

Beetlejuice sighed to himself and thought of Lydia. No...it was Lydia who made him get up. He could practically hear Lydia's voice in his head...

Beetlejuice's eyes began to tear up. He quickly wipes them away and gets up. "Ok...I will try again...for Lydia..."he muttered to himself.

...

The hours passed as Beetlejuice tried idea after idea in making a gap in the road so he could enter into Sandwormland. The image of Lydia continued to burn in his mind. His messy blonde hair fell over his crestfallen face. Nothing seemed to ever work! There had to be something!

"I don't get it? What is keeping me from entering?" he asked himself as he looked down at his hands. Every time he tried, it was almost as if something was stopping himself...or someone...

"It's like I'm fighting with myself!" Beetlejuice said out loud to himself. Suddenly, he felt ill and fell to his hands and knees. His body shook and another Beetlejuice came out from him. It was pretty much identical to him, from the black and white striped suit with a couple stains here and there, all the way down to the beetles crawling in his pale blonde hair.

It brushed itself off and loomed over the real Ghost With The Most. Beetlejuice stared up at the clone nervously. The clone grinned down at him with his messed up green teeth.

Suddenly the ground underneath them began to shake. The real Beetlejuice yelped when a boxing match ring came up from underneath them. Beetlejuice watched as the poles came out from the corners of the ring and The ropes going around them.

Beetlejuice looked back over to his clone and saw that something was different. His clone was not wearing his striped suit, but a pair of boxing pants with red boxing gloves on. The clone continued to grin as it grabbed the real Ghost With The Most up by the front of his shirt and socked him right in the face.

BeetleJuice screamed as he was sent flying through the air and landed on the outside of the ring. Stars and beetles circled around his head as he slowly sat upright. He groaned in pain as his tinted yellow eyes went around and around in opposite directions.

He gently rubbed his face where he got punched before shaking it, getting him out of his dazed state. Beetlejuice got back on his feet and looked back over to the ring and the clone and narrowed his eyes. The clone smirked and stuck his tongue out before disappearing.

Beetlejuice growled angrily and kicked a nearby rock. He was starting to get really sick and tired of doing that. He

Tired, frustrated, and in pain, he went down on his knees and struck the ground with his fists. "No! Why can't I do this?! Please let me go into Sandwormland!" he shouted. He brought his head down and smacked it against the cold, hard earth.

Gradually, his anger began to get the best of him. The winds began to pick up. Lightning streaked across the black sky. Magic coursed through Beetlejuice's veins and around his body. He lifted his head up.

His narrowed eyes were glowing bright and his crooked green teeth were clenched tightly He raised his arms up and screamed at the top of his lungs as he brought his fists, filled with magic, back down and pounded the earth.

The striped clad ghost's shoulder length blonde hair whipped around his pale white face as he squeezed his eyes shut. He concentrated with all his might on his power as it all made contact with the dead earth.

Instantly the ground began to crack, and webbed out from the ghost's body. The cracks began to get bigger and bigger till it became one huge, deep gap. Beetlejuice didn't open his eyes till he couldn't feel the cold dirt underneath his fists and knees.

He opened them and found himself floating over a huge gap that revealed Sandwormland miles below. Beetlejuice gasped as his hair continued to sway around his head. Suddenly, all of his magic ceased and he fell straight through the opening and plummeted toward the endless realm of golden-amber sand.

Beetlejuice felt the cold air smack up against his body and face. His striped attire flapped around him as his arms flailed like a panicking bird. Suddenly, he felt very sore and very weak from using up all of his magic...and the sight of the sand coming up fast.

He went limp as his eyes closed, and he blacked out...


	4. Chapter 4: Sandwormland

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4: Sandwormland<strong>

**...**

A burning sun loomed over the warm, golden amber sands of Sandwormland. Beetlejuice groaned, slowly shaking his head back and forth as he gradually opened his eyes. He blinked and looked down at where he laid. He was half buried in the sands.

He gasped as he quickly pulled himself out of the sand and jumped up and brushed the gold particles out of his striped suit as if they would pull him under.

Multiple round moons were seen close to the ringed planet as the Ghost With The Most looked around. He was in Sandworm territory. The one place he never thought he would go to on his own accord. He would have rather taken a bath...

Beetlejuice coughed as the bitter sands began to blow into his mouth and nose. The hot winds were starting to pick up. Beetlejuice pulled out a black handkerchief from his pocket and and tied it over his mouth. The winds picked up the sands on the surface and began to instantly cover Beetlejuice.

Beetlejuice coughed and turned his back to it.

"This is ridiculous. There is sand everywhere!" he complained in a muffled voice behind his bandanna as he began to walk. The sands continued to hit against his striped back as he trudged on through the realm. The gold color of the sand went on for miles and miles, and was dotted with strange red rock formations that were twisted and distorted.

The ghost's deep footprints were left behind him, but soon were covered over by the blowing sands.

He tried using his magic to turn into a camel, but he couldn't. Soon afterward a wave of pain went through him. Beetlejuice groaned as he stopped dead in his tracks and doubled over for a minute. After it was gone, he slowly straightened back up.

He sighed in frustration and ran his pale, red tipped fingers through his uncombed blonde hair. He used up all of his magic when he made the huge gap in the ground. Beetlejuice blinked as he stared down at the moving sands at his feet. The gap. Was it still there?

He threw his head back upward to the skies. He winced as he placed his right hand over his eyes and looked up toward the deep, dark blue sky. Right in the middle of the sky, was a scar shaped hole. It hovered there in space like an awkward missing piece to a jigsaw puzzle.

Beetlejuice lowered his head and let his hand drop to the ground. He had no magic to reach all the way up to the gap. Also, there was no point in trying to find a really long ladder in the middle of Sandwormland. He was stuck.

He sighed as he kicked the sand at his feet with his black boot and decided to keep on walking.

He didn't get far when he heard the familiar cry of a Sandworm. He stopped dead in his tracks near a red rock formation. His senses became a thousand times more alert. He was so focused on finding the Sandworm, he didn't notice when the winds ripped the black bandanna right off his face. Beetlejuice stared striaght on toward the direction of the sound.

He ignored the feeling of the sand hitting in his ear as he strained to listen past the winds and for the gigantic creature to appear.

Suddenly, the cry came out again, only this time it was closer. Beetlejuice hesitated where he stood. He wanted to run, but if he did, then the Sandworm would know where he would be and come after him.

He climbed up onto the red rock formation to get a better view.

Just then the Sandworm's head broke to the surface of the sand. Beetlejuice held his breath and instantly climbed around the rock to hide from the beast.

The sand exploded outward and came raining back down as the huge creature arched its head back and cried its long, screeching red eyes gleamed in the sunlight as it opened its mouth, revealing its sharp striped teeth.

Then from its opened green lips came another head. Its pale had snaked out and bared its sharp yellow teeth and cried as well, till falling back inside the dark mouth again.

The Sandworm lowered its head and dove back into the sea of sand. It's black and white striped body snaked through the sand till it disappeared back into the ground.

Beetlejuice was shaking with fear from the sight of the creature. Horrible flashes from his past came rapidly through his head. He closed his eyes tightly and shook his head. "No...no! Don't think about them...don't think about them..." he told himself as he placed his hands over his closed eyes.

The images of the Sandworms from the memories continued to appear. Beetlejuice's shoulders trembled. Then the memory with Lydia appeared. She was seen screaming as she fell through the trapdoor from the courtroom into Sandwormland-

"Lydia!" Beetlejuice screamed out loud as he removed his hands from his face and opened his eyes. Beetlejuice's scream echoed through the air. Beetlejuice gasped as he placed his hands over his mouth.

The winds seemed to slow down for a minute.

Beetlejuice held his breath again and listened for the Sandworm. A full minute passed. Beetlejuice continued to hold his hands over his mouth. Two minutes passed. Beetlejuice's body was stiff and as still as a statue on the rock formation.

Three minutes.

Beetlejuice ever so slowly removed his pale hands from his mouth. He wished he didn't scream like that. He would have been eaten by a Sandworm in seconds. He couldn't help it, the memory of Lydia popped in there, he had no control of it.

His face became crestfallen when he thought of Lydia. His legs became like jelly and he sat down on the red rock formation and placed his fists under his chin.

Lydia...his best friend. It was his fault she was here. Beetlejuice's stomach began to hurt from the guilt. He needed to find her. That was the only way to fix all this. He needed to find Lydia...

Beetlejuice looked over toward the never-ending ocean of sand. Trying to find Lydia in Sandwormland was going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack...

Just then, a huge shadow went over Beetlejuice and the rock formation. Beetlejuice lifted his head up from his fists and looked down at the shadowed ground.

"What the-?" he started to ask himself. Suddenly Beetlejuice heard heavy breathing behind him. Beetlejuice's hair went up like a cat's as his body went stiff and his eyes went wide like saucers.

He instantly couldn't move. Just the hunch of what loomed behind him made him too afraid to even look. Gradually, he slowly tilted his head a bit and forced his eyes to look up.

The same Sandworm as before loomed over him from behind. It snuck up on him when he was sitting down, deep in his own thoughts. It narrowed its red eyes and opened its mouth. The other head came out and glared at Beeltejuice. Then it let out its shrilling cry.

Beetlejuice screamed as he jumped from his spot and ran away from the Sandworm. The Sandworm charged toward the striped clad ghost and slithered after him.

Ghost with The Most and the Sandworm ran across the desert like realm. Little did they know that they were being watched by a mysterious lone figure watching them from the top of a huge sand dune...


	5. Chapter 5: Rabbit Holes

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: Rabbit Holes <strong>

**...**

The sun began to sink low, turning the amber gold sands into a dark, burnt orange. The winds had died down, so the only thing that was kicking them up were Beetlejuice's pointy, worn black shoes as he continued to run from the Sandworm right behind him.

His voice was hoarse from screaming, and his legs were starting to burn like fire. The Sandworm didn't look like it was going to be slowing down and let it's dinner escape anytime soon. It slithered over the sands like it was made out of it. Rippling across like a ribbon.

Beetlejuice clenched his teeth and forced his legs to keep running. His lifeless heart was bumping around inside his rib cage. His arms ached from being waved around like flags. He wished he had his powers so he could just fly away.

The Sandworm screeched and tried to nose dive toward the ghost, its' glaring red eyes focused on its' prey. Beetlejuice quickly jumped out of the way in time and felt the waves of sands smack against his back, nearly taking him down.

He continued running, searching for a place to hide. His eyes landed on a twisted rock formation a good distance in front of him. It was the color of a dark maroon had a bunch of holes from the impact of the sand storms. Beetlejuice could hear the Sandworm lifting its striped head back up and coming toward him. He didn't look back and made a run toward the hole he hoped he could fit in.

The Sandworm's foul, hot breath rolled down the back of Beetlejuice's collar. The formation began to get closer and closer. Beetlejuice pushed himself to run a little faster, ignoring the pain in his legs. The Sandworm opened its mouth and its second head came out. Its seedy yellow eyes were wide with hunger.

Beetlejuice was closer to the small hole at the base of the formation. Beetlejuice took his chance and jumped. He flew a couple of feet, and slipped right through. His body scraped against the inside of the small hole.

The Sandworm smashed right into the formation and caused it to shake a bit. After Beetlejuice stopped scraping against the inside of the tunnel, he scooted away from the opening where the Sandworm's huge head was.

The Sandworm screeched loudly in pain as it shook its striped, bleeding head. Both of its' mouths open revealing two sets of sharp teeth. Then the Sandworm tried fitting its' smaller head into the hole. Thankfully it was too big.

Beetlejuice's lungs were exploding as he breathed heavily. His chest rising and falling at a rapid pace. His legs burned as if someone poured hot lava over them. Beetlejuice ignored the excruciating pain as he kept his wide, yellow tinted eyes on the Sandworm.

The Sandworm continued to press its' head against the small hole, straining to reach the small ghost. It bean to chomp its' sharp teeth over and over, sending chills up Beetlejuice's spine.

It's black and white striped forked tongue finally came out of the smaller, white head and blindly felt its way toward him. Beetlejuice gasped and scooted further away from it. It lightly brushed up against his wounds where his body scraped against the rock. His clothes were tattered and he was bleeding.

Gradually his dead heart stopped moving around in his rib cage and his breathing finally slowed as he watched the Sandworm beat itself against the formation to get to him. Beetlejuice couldn't stop staring at the hideous creature. Occasionally, its gleaming, wicked sharp teeth would show and Beetlejuice would cringe at the sight of them.

The striped alien snake began to get tired and tried sticking its tongue into the small hole again. It lightly ran up the side of the small tunnel toward the scared ghost.

Beetlejuice began to blindly feel behind him for something to attack it with. His pale hands ran across the cold stone ground till his fingers brushed up against a rock. He wrapped his fingers around it, still keeping his alert eyes on the tongue gently flapping in the air in front of him. Tasting him.

Finally, he brought his arm forward and chucked the rock. The rock sailed past the tongue and hit the Sandworm in the face. The Sandworm screeched as its' tongue retreated back. The Sandworm moved its head away from the hole and cried out in pain. Beetlejuice stayed where he was, not moving.

The Sandworm shook its head to get rid of the pain. Beetlejuice held his breath and waited, watching the opening of the hole. A couple times he saw the black and white striped body of the creature, which would make him tense up.

Finally, after a couple minutes, the Sandworm decided to forget about his prey and leave. The creature dove back into the sands and was gone. Beetlejuice trembled from the nearly- being- eaten experience and wrapped his arms around his legs.

The sun disappeared behind the mountainous sand dunes in the distance, making the whole half side of Saturn dark. Beetlejuice watched the sands turn from the bright amber-gold to a deep plum purple, and the silver stars scatter over the deep royal blue sky.

A couple of Saturn's moons were visible and floated like huge balloons. Somewhere with them, was the gap Beetlejuice entered through into the Sandworm realm. Beetlejuice shivered from the bitter cold that came into the small hole he sat in, like a frightened rabbit.

He didn't want to leave the hole. He was too afraid that the Sandworm he encountered earlier would come back and try to eat him. Beetlejuice closed his eyes tightly when the image of the Sandworm's teeth snapping in front of him came into his mind. He tried getting rid of it, but it stayed as if it were drawn with permanent ink onto his brain.

Gradually, he decided to lay his stiff body down and try to get some sleep. He stared out toward the opening of the hole, keeping watch for any Sandworms. Soon, they began to get heavy, and the Ghost with the Most fell fast asleep...


	6. Chapter 6: Losing Sanity

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: Losing Sanity <strong>

**...**

The next morning, Beetlejuice woke with a start when he heard a noise outside the small cave. He hit his head on the roof of the small cave. "Ow!" he said and rubbed it. After the pain settled, he blinked a couple times. At first he was confused of why he was in a small cave somewhere, then gradually began to remember where he was and why.

Beetlejuice quickly sat upright and squatted where he was. His pointy ears listened from under his blonde disheveled hair. Silence. Beetlejuice rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stared straight ahead at the opening of the cave. Was it the same Sandworm from yesterday? The scared ghost tensed up in fear.

Suddenly, the noise came again. Beetlejuice looked down and sighed in relief. It was just his stomach. He laughed softly and placed his hand over his face. "Ah...I'm scaring myself. Gosh...if I stay here too long, I might go insane!" Beetlejuice said to himself as he shifted onto his hands and knees and crawled out of the small cave and to the opening.

The sunlight greeted him as it warmed his face and the front of his chest. The winds were blowing the sands on the surface of the desert realm. Long, morning shadows stretched out from behind the red, twisted rock formations.

Beetlejuice stood outside of the hole and looked out at the gold bathed scene before him. He stretched his arms and yawned a long yawn. He stopped when he felt a small pain run up the sides of his arms.

"Ow," he groaned as he rubbed them. "Sleeping on rock is not as much fun as I thought," Beetlejuice muttered to himself as he continued rubbing his arms gently. Just then, his stomach growled again. He narrowed his eyes a bit and looked down. "Ok, ok! I'll look for something to eat!" he snapped at his stomach and threw his arms into the air.

He looked away from his stomach and looked out to the sea of sand. There was no way he was going to find a single crunchy beetle out in the middle of a harsh, desert wasteland. Beetlejuice sighed in disappointment. He was really craving for a couple of those critters.

His stomach growled loudly again.

"Fine fine! I'll look! There's bound to be_ something _out here in this...nothingness!" he snapped angrily. With that, he straightened his striped suit, and took one step out toward the sands. He stopped when he felt a jolt of fear run through him.

He quickly tensed up and squeezed his eyes shut. "Don't do this, BJ ol' boy...th-there's nothing to be af-f-fraid of...n-nothing to b-be af-f-fraid of..." he told himself, but his body wouldn't move.

Somewhere, deep in the depths of the shifting sands, there was a Sandworm...waiting for him. "No...no, no no," he told himself again. His body shook. "Come on! We can't stand out here forever! Sandworms will get us for sure!" he shouted angrily. Instantly, his legs locked, and he fell forward. He face-planted into the sand.

Beetlejuice lifted his head up, spitting out a mouthful of sand. He coughed and sat upright. "Well, that's one way to do it..." he muttered and began slapping the side of his head to get the sand out of his ear.

After that, he brushed the sands off the front of his striped suit and began making his way out into the open desert. The winds pushed him along as he walked alone. Next to him, his shadow moved with him. It was stretched out seven feet across the sands. Beetlejuice would sometimes talk to it, just to keep him sane and to not feel alone.

Sometimes he would tell jokes to himself so he wouldn't think about the Sandworms that were possibly underneath his feet. Once, he thought of Lydia, and she appeared walking right next to him in her scarlet red spider-webbed poncho.

"Hey, BJ," she said, smiling up at him. Beetlejuice felt his dead heart leap inside his ribcage with excitement. "Lydia!" he said excitedly and hugged her. Unfortunately, he went right through her and he landed face down into the sand.

Beetlejuice quickly turned around and looked up at Lydia. "Wh-what? I...I don't understand!" he cried as he stared up at her. Lydia just laughed, then faded away. Beetlejuice screamed in terror and got to his feet. He grabbed the sides of his head and shook it.

"No! No! No! I can't be losing it! No!" he cried. Then he went down and pounded the sands with his fists angrily. They sank into the sands. Beetlejuice quickly pulled them out and jumped to his feet again.

No. He couldn't stop. He had to keep moving, or he would be sucked into the sands. Beetlejuice moved away from where he stood, and held himself. "No...no...you have to keep yourself together...you can't lose it now...Lydia is counting on you..." he told himself, comforting himself as he began walking in the same direction he was heading for the last couple hours.

The sun continued to climb higher and higher into the sky. Beetlejuice licked his dry lips and wiped the sweat that was running down his face. It was so hot out, and he was beginning to feel very thirsty. On and on the sands continued to go on, never-ending.

Soon, all the rock formations and endless hills of sand began to look the same. (This was another reason why Beetlejuice hated Sandwormland.) It was a place where everyone lost their sanity. It made Beetlejuice worry about Lydia.

Was she strong to keep herself together and not let the insanity of Sandwormland take over her? Beetlejuice wrapped his arms around himself, worrying as he continued walking.

He turned his head upward and winced to the open, blue sky. The scar shaped hole stayed in the middle of the sky with the sun. A couple moons were barely visible above as well.

Suddenly, Beetlejuice felt his feet become cold and wet. He stopped walking and looked down. Water! Beetlejuice took a step out of what looked to be a stream. Beetlejuice blinked. "What? Water? In the middle of Sandwormland?" he asked himself. He stared down at it, then slowly shook his head.

"No...has to be an illusion..." he said, but then looked down at his wet pantlegs. Though...maybe it wasn't? He went down on his hands and knees on the edge of the small stream and scooped the water into his cupped hand.

He lifted it up to his lips and took a sip. The water was clear and tasted sweet and mineral-like. He smiled and lowered his head close to the water and drank deeply. He laughed happily as he licked the sides of his lips with his striped tongue. "Ah, refreshing," he told himself.

Then his eyes followed the stream till it came upon a small oasis. Beetlejuice's eyes widened. The oasis contained alien-looking trees that twisted out like octopus tentacles and had strangely shaped fruits hanging from them. The other plants looked like hands, or fox-tails.

All in strange multiple colors in tones of sunsets and inks: deep purples, oranges, blacks, and blues, and some light colors in tones of moons and flesh, like white, grey, periwinkle, and peach. The colors twisted or blended with each other in the thick jungle foliage of the oasis.

Beetlejuice felt compelled to enter, but at the same time felt almost fearful. What if the Sandworms thrived there? It was the only place any living thing in Sandwormland would be in. It had everything it looked like any alien creature would need in order to survive on the ringed planet.

Beetlejuice made up his mind and decided to head toward the oasis and enter. He needed to get out of the sun, or it would cook him. Also, he was in dire need of food. If there were any giant beetles that lived in the oasis, he wanted to be the first to encounter them.

With that, Beetlejuice began walking alongside the stream toward the strange oasis.

...

When he arrived, the exotic plants loomed over his head. They were taller then he expected. They looked like a strange world you would find in the deepest, darkest depths in the oceans of the Neitherworld, not in the middle of the desert realm of Sandworm land. It seemed out of place and that it was dying where it was trying to grow.

Beetlejuice shrugged and headed into it. Strange buzzing and clicking sounds were heard amongst the foliage, and stopped for a couple seconds when Beetlejuice entered.

The sun seemed to disappear as the tentacle, and spider legged-like branches of the trees began to interlace above, not allowing any sunlight into the oasis. Beetlejuice didn't seem to mind. He was glad his brain wasn't being boiled like an egg anymore.

The stream continued to flow alongside Beetlejuice, like a guide into the jungle. It curved and twisted from the uneven path of striped rocks and spiral bushes that continued to unfurl before Beetlejuice's feet as he continued to walk to the heart of the oasis.

The place was creepy, but beautiful in its own way at the same time. Beetlejuice was amazed by it as he stared up at the plants, that he forgot that he was looking for food and didn't feel hungry anymore.

He didn't know how wide or deep the oasis was, but he didn't mind, he felt somewhat safe inside it. He didn't feel exposed to the outer world of the planet where the Sandworms could see him. He felt hidden, and safe from those giant predators-

_Hiiisssssssss!_

Beetlejuice stopped dead in his tracks. His heart began to flop around like a dying goldfish out of water inside his chest. He spun his head around in all directions. Silence. Sunlight strained through the thick alien foliage from the top of the oasis. A couple shaded leaves fell from above. Other then that, and the stream softly trickling along by his feet, it was quiet.

Beetlejuice began to walk again. His eyes darting around to everything in the jungle. Suddenly, a loud, familiar screech was heard and a Sandworm shot out from the ground to the left of Beetlejuice. The striped clad ghost screamed in fear and stumbled backwards from the creature.

The Sandworm's head broke through the foliage of the jungle, ripping the roots and making the strangely shapes trees topple over as it loomed over Beetlejuice and revealed its two sets of sharp teeth. Beetlejuice stared up at the striped snake creature in sheer terror.

He quickly looked away to look for something to use as a weapon against the Sandworm. He found a sharp stick that was five feet long and decided to use it. Just as he went down to pick it up and grab it, the Sandworm moved its head toward him. Beetlejuice screamed and quickly moved out of the way.

The Sandworm pulled its head back, then lunged again. This time, Beetlejuice was ready and struck the Sandworm's snout. The Sandworm screeched in pain and shook its head. A small line of blood was seen across its nose. Beetlejuice raised the stick on his hands. Then, he cried out a war cry and charged toward the Sandworm.

Just as he was about to strike the Sandworm again while it was distracted, something from above came down on top of him. Beetlejuice fell backwards and felt the wind get knocked out of him as he landed on his back, and the creature press its weight on top of his chest.

Beetlejuice groaned as his head began to hurt from hitting against the damp ground. He opened his eyes and found himself face to face with another Sandworm. Beetlejuice tried reaching for his stick, but it fell a couple feet from his arms out of reach. Helpless, he screamed and started to kick and flail his arms.

This was it. He was done for. He was going to be eaten. Beetlejuice stared up at the Sandworm that sat on top of his chest. He blinked and narrowed his eyes a bit as he stared at the Sandworm. Gradually, he stopped kicking and flailing his arms and legs. He stared up at the Sandworm. It looked weird. The face glared at him with lifeless, dull red eyes.

Beetlejuice noticed that the snaky body was not there, and instead had pale arms and legs. The scaly, striped skin just hung loosely around the human- like body like rags.

Then, the arms brought out a spear. It brought the sharp tip close to Beetlejuice's throat. Beetlejuice didn't seem to care as he tried looking past what seemed to be a disguise.

Beetlejuice felt his heart jump inside his chest when he began to see past what he was looking at. Inside the slightly open mouth, Beetlejuice could make out a human face inside. His eyes widened. He slowly opened his mouth. "L-Lydia?" he choked out. Tears began to appear in his eyes.

The Sandworm moved when it heard the name. The spear moved a couple inches away from Beetlejuice's Sandworm head lifted up and was thrown back like a hood. Lydia's face was revealed. She wore a dead carcass of a young Sandworm. The rest of the striped snake hung down over her shoulders and was roughly cut to a certain length that only went down to her waist. The back part went past and acted like a jagged striped cape.

Lydia stared down at Beetlejuice and nodded her head with a stoic expression on her face. Her raven black hair moved in the gentle breeze. "Hey BJ," she said in a flat tone.


	7. Chapter 7: Delusions in Black and White

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: Delusions in Black and White <strong>

**...**

The striped clad ghost stared up at the young goth girl in excitement. There she was. Right in front of him; in the flesh! Alive! She actually survived Sandwormland! His wide, excited eyes ran up and down her Sandworm disguise.

Underneath the dead Sandworm carcass, she wore her red spider web poncho, but it was tattered from the elements. A skirt made out of some of the huge leaves from the strange purple plants were fastened around her waist with some twine, which also was stung with small skulls from small creatures of Saturn. She was adorned with round stones, dried berries, and strange nuts around her neck. She was barefoot, and her arms were bare as well.

Beetlejuice took in every detail that he saw of her. He even noticed that her raven black hair was longer the last time they were together. Beetlejuice stared up at her with a stupid grin on his face. Lydia glared down at the striped clad ghost with her dark mascara eyes. Beetlejuice didn't seem to notice. He was just so thrilled to see her.

"Lyds! Babes! I am so happy to see you alive!" he said. He tried reaching out toward her for a hug from where he laid, but was stopped when he felt the tip of the spear dig into his shoulder. His smile disappeared as he lowered his arms and looked down at the spear. He laughed nervously.

"L-Lyds?...it's me. Your friend...Don't you remember?" he asked as he tried reaching up toward her again.

Just then, the Sandworm from behind Lydia hissed, revealing its sharp teeth. Beetlejuice almost forgot all about the other Sandworm-the real Sandworm- and tried to scoot away, but Lydia was still sitting on his chest, keeping him pinned down.

Beetlejuice struggled where he laid, kicking his legs again.

"W-watch out, Lydia! Th-there's a S-Sandworm behind you!" he shouted as he pointed to the looming alien snake creature behind the girl.

Lydia didn't seem bothered. She silently got up off of Beetlejuice's chest and took a couple steps backward, still glaring at Beetlejuice as if he were a threat. Then, she simply turned her head to the side. She hissed in a strange way to the huge Sandworm.

The Sandworm stopped hissing and lowered its enormous striped head down next to her. Beetlejuice sat upright and watched in total shock as his best friend began to stroke the top of the creature's head. The Sandworm's red eyes on the sides of its head closed and instantly started to act docile.

Beetlejuice's emerald green eyes flickered from the Sandworm and back over to Lydia again. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Lydia, his best friend, getting along with one of the creatures he hated the most! His mortal enemy?! This had to be another delusion. "L-Lydia? I-is it really you?" he asked as he slowly got to his feet.

The Sandworm opened its' red eyes again. It lifted its head up over Lydia's head and curled its green lips back to reveal its sharp, striped teeth. Lydia turned her head back to Beetlejuice and glared at him as well.

"Yes, Beetlejuice. It really is me..." she said in her cold, serious tone. Beetlejuice took a step back as if he got slapped in the face. Her tone was harsh and cold. It was not the same sweet Lydia he remembered. He felt as though he was talking to a complete stranger.

The two were silent for a moment. Finally, Beetlejuice couldn't take it anymore, he took a couple steps forward. The Sandworm growled deeper as Beetlejuice came forward. Lydia silently placed her arm out to her side, gesturing to the Sandworm to hold its ground.

Beetlejuice forced himself to ignore the growling beast as he wrapped his arms around Lydia and hugged her. Even though she changed, she was still his best friend. His Lydia.

Beetlejuice felt Lydia's body stiffen, but he didn't care and just hugged her tighter. Tears began to form in his eyes and ran down his face. "Oh, Lydia...what happened to you...?" he whispered before closing his eyes and burying his face into her shoulder.

Lydia pulled away from him and stared up at him with her glaring look. "Why are you here?" she asked, changing the subject. Beetlejuice opened his eyes and pulled away to look at his friend. "Wha-...? What are you saying?" he asked her as he gripped her shoulders.

"I came to save you from this horrible place! If you _haven't_ noticed there is a hideous beast with sharp teeth and the hunger for ghosts and little girls! so lets go before it decides to swallow us whole!" he said, looking up at the Sandworm with disgust. Then he began to pull Lydia away.

Lydia snarled and flicked her wrist out of Beetlejuice's grasp.

Beetlejuice stopped and turned his head back with confusion. "Babes...?" Lydia took a step backwards, closer to the Sandworm, glaring at the striped clad ghost. The Sandworm's lowered its head close to hers and glared its red eyes at Beetlejuice as well. Lydia placed her hand on top of its black and white striped snout.

"I did not ask to be rescued. I did not ask you to come and save me... Go back to your world, Beetlejuice." Beetlejuice took a step back as if he got stabbed in the chest. "L-Lydia..." he said, hurt. She didn't want to be rescued? Worst of all...she didn't want him...?

"L-Lydia...I-I'm your friend...I came to make things right...I...I felt so horrible when you came here instead of me...I am so sorry! I don't know how many times I can say that, but I will keep saying it until you forgive me!...Please, Lydia...Please come back with me..." he said as he stretched his pale hand out to her.

Lydia stared down at it, not moving. Beetlejuice stretched it out as far as he could toward her. He desperately wished he had his powers. He could just turn himself into an airplane, scoop Lydia up, and fly away from the Sandworm infested place.

Finally, Lydia turned her face back up to the Ghost with the Most. Beetlejuice stared back at her with sadness. His hand straining to reach for hers.

She didn't say anything. Instead, she turned around and made a strange noise to the Sandworm. The Sandworm obediently lowered its head for her. She climbed up onto its back, close to its head. Beetlejuice's eyes widened and pulled his arm back.

"Lydia! Wait!" he cried as the Sandworm lifted its head out of the ghost's reach. The Sandworm arched forward, over the ghost, and slithered through the jungle. Beetlejuice ran right behind the Sandworm.

"Lydia! Come back! Come back!" he cried as he sprinted through the jungle. The plants slapped against his face as he jumped over rocks and maneuvered around bushes and turned over tentacle trees.

Lydia rode the Sandworm out of the oasis and out into the desert realm. Beetlejuice slowed to a stop and watched as Lydia pressed her body against the Sandworm. The Sandworm screeched, then arched forward and dived into the sand.

"Lydia!" Beetlejuice screamed as he watched her disappear from him again. She went with the Sandworm into the sands. The winds whipped Beetlejuice's dirty blonde hair as he stood there, catatonic.

He felt as though he was going to pass out right there. He lost Lydia...again. Beetlejuice felt as though his legs were made of Jell-O, but he forced himself to walk forward toward where Lydia and the Sandworm disappeared.

Beetlejuice stopped just on the outer part of a huge hole. The whole was ten feet around and went straight down miles and miles into the depths of Saturn. Beetlejuice instantly felt sick looking down into the darkness and moved away from it.

Beetlejuice fell to his knees and covered his head with his hands. He needed to go after Lydia...but where did she go? She went with a Sandworm into the sands! Could she breathe down there? How far down did they go? So many fearful questions swam around in Beetlejuice's head.

He gritted his teeth in frustration and began pulling his hair. He screamed angrily as he got up and kicked the sand a couple times. The warm winds blew at his hair again, almost teasing him. Gradually, he calmed down and turned his head toward the direction of the hole.

Beetlejuice walked back to the hole and looked down. Even with the sun in the middle of the sky, the hole went too far down to see if there even was a bottom. Beetlejuice began to feel scared. He knew that down there was possibly a whole nest full of Sandworms. The worst thing that could ever happen in Beetlejuice's afterlife.

But he needed to get Lydia out of Sandwormland. She was already acting crazy. The longer she stayed on the desert-like planet, the more she was going to believe that she was a Sandworm.

With that, Beetlejuice took a couple steps back. He took a deep breath, then ran toward the hole. He screamed as he jumped and free fell straight down into the darkness...


	8. Chapter 8: The Nest

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: The Nest<strong>

**...**

Beetlejuice screamed as he free fell through the pitch black darkness, making his messy blonde hair stick up. Beetlejuice tried moving his arms to feel anything, but all he felt was the cold slapping the front of his chest as he descended through the air.

Soon, the seemingly never ending hole began to gradually curve. Beetlejuice felt his body make contact with the tunnel in the darkness, and began to slide down it. Beetlejuice would have enjoyed the ride if he didn't know what was at the end of it.

He rolled left and right. His hands lightly ran along the side of his body, helping him stay balanced as he continued through the tunnel system. Beetlejuice blinked when he saw small lights up ahead. They were a bluish- green. Once he got close enough, he saw that they were glowing rocks. He passed by them with speed and continued on down the Sandworm tunnel.

Soon, more began appearing inside the angled Sandworm tunnel, lighting the way for Beetlejuice, and making the tunnel glow a tinted turquoise color, as if he were underwater. Beetlejuice tried slowing down, but his red fingertips began to hurt, so he let himself slide down till he got to the end.

The end came suddenly. Beetlejuice hit into one of the glowing rocks and found his upper half falling forward. Beetlejuice rolled forward till he finally slowed to a stop. He quickly got up, ignoring the pains in his shoulders and arms as he looked around where he fell.

The tunnel had opened up into a huge cavernous area. It was bigger than a football field, and the ceiling went upwards as tall as the empire state building. The whole place was filled with tunnels in the sides like a sponge; but that was not what Beetlejuice was looking at. All over, the place was infested with Sandworms.

They came in and out of the tunnels like maggots in a body. Their high pitched cries were heard echoing all throughout the place. Everywhere Beetlejuice saw black and white stripes, and razor sharp teeth.

Some were seen curled up sleeping, others were seen feasting on some poor creature one of them caught from above. They interlaced and slithered around or over each other. They looked like a bunch of black and white striped noodles. Some were small at around fifteen feet long, possibly babies, while the others that towered over them were the full grown adults that were around fifty to seventy feet long.

The place was damp and dark, except for the glowing green blue rocks seen all over the place. Lighting the place up. The glowing rocks were bigger then in the tunnel Beetlejuice came through.

Beetlejuice's legs began to shake as he stared at all the Sandworms with wide eyes. This was too much for him to handle. He was in a nest full of Sandworms. There were too many for him to even consider being close to. There had to be more than five hundred of them!

Beetlejuice began to take a couple steps backwards, telling himself that this was a bad idea over and over in his mind. Suddenly, he bumped into something. He stopped and felt the back of his hair stick up like a cat's. His body shook all over. Beetlejuice could feel his heart jumping around like a wild animal in a cage. Ever so slowly, he turned his head around.

He screamed when he found himself face to face with two sets of sharp striped teeth. His screams echoed along the walls of the huge place. All of the Sandworms turned and saw the striped clad ghost. They bared their teeth and slithered over toward him and the other Sandworm.

Beetlejuice fell to his knees and curled up into a little shivering ball. He placed his hands over his head and buried his face into his knees. "LYYYDDIIIIIIAAAAA!" he screamed in a shaky voice as the Sandworms loomed over him and opened their mouths.

Lydia appeared in front of Beetlejuice's petrified body in her Sandworm outfit. The small, dead Sandworm head was pulled over hers. She placed her spear in front of her body in defense and glared up at them. She hissed angrily. They all hissed back and started to shift where they loomed over the two.

Lydia hissed again and made other strange noises. A couple shook their heads angrily and others glared at Beetlejuice's body with hatred. The ghost was an intruder, therefore, he must be eaten. Lydia stayed put, protecting Beetlejuice.

Gradually, the Sandworms slithered away from the disguised girl and scared ghost. Once they were all gone, Lydia turned around and glared down at the shaking ghost. Her right pale hand clenched her spear, making her knuckles turn even more white.

"I told you to leave," she said firmly. Beetlejuice didn't answer. He stayed in his frozen ball state. Lydia continued staring down at the ghost. After a couple minutes of no answer, she tried again. "Beetlejuice?" The ghost was not moving. Lydia reached down and touched the top of Beetlejuice's head.

He still didn't move.

Lydia sighed. _He must have fainted, _she guessed. Then, she turned away from Beetlejuice and cried out a strange cry. Instantly, the Sandworm she was with before, came up from the ground and loomed over her. "Help me take him to my place," she told her loyal Sandworm. The Sandworm eyed the stiff, unmoving striped ghost and growled at him, baring its teeth.

Lydia hissed back at the Sandworm, and ordered it again. The Sandworm stopped growling and looked down at Lydia. Finally, it obeyed. It lowered its head down, and scooped the unconscious ghost up onto its nose. Lydia climbed on top of its head, then the Sandworm lifted its head upward to a dug out hole in the side of the Nest and placed Beetlejuice down.

Lydia made a noise to her loyal Sandworm, thanking it. The Sandworm made a noise back. It silently turned its head to the side and eyed Beetlejuice. Its' red eyes glowed. Then, it silently left Lydia and the unconscious ghost where it left them...

...


	9. Chapter 9:Time on Saturn

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9: Time on Saturn<strong>

**...**

Beetlejuice had nightmares of a million Sandworms chasing him.

_-Their multiple eyes glowing in the inky darkness. Beetlejuice tried running as fast as his striped legs could, but he couldn't. He looked down and found himself sinking in the sands. He tried to pull them free, but every time he did, he found himself sinking deeper._

_Beetlejuice turned his head back and found the Sandworms looming over his small body. They opened their mouths and allowed their other heads to come out. The second heads hissed as their yellow eyes glared down at him with hunger-_

Beetlejuice screamed himself awake. He sat bolt upright and hunched over. His eyes were wide as he breathed heavily. Sweat trickled down the sides of his head and stained his messy, tattered striped suit. Once he started breathing normally, he blinked and looked down at what he was laying on.

It was what looked like an attempt of a mattress. It was a bunch of huge leaves sewn together and was filled with what could be feathers, leaves, and fluff from the alien plants in the exotic jungle oasis. Beetlejuice turned his head upward and looked around the small room like hole he was in.

All around were items created from the weird alien plants from the oasis, and possibly other oasis areas dotted all over Sandwormland. One wall of packed sand was covered by a huge, tattered green leaf, which acted like a curtain.

Beetlejuice turned his head to his left and found Lydia in her Sandworm costume. Her back was turned as he looked out the huge gaping hole and down upon the squirming, writhing Sandworms below. Beetlejuice stared at the back of her head. Her real head.

He still couldn't believe she sided with the beasts. Why would she do that? Beetlejuice groaned when he felt pain shoot up his arms and legs. Lydia turned her head slightly, but didn't look at Beetlejuice. "I told you to leave," she finally said.

Beetlejuice looked up from his arms and over to her. He felt his heart sink like a stone into his stomach. "I couldn't just leave you here. You don't belong here..." he stopped and realized he had no idea where _here_ was.

"Wh-...where exactly are we?" he asked. He couldn't quite recall what happened before he entered Sandwormland. Lydia didn't turn around as she stared out to the huge room as Sandworms came in and out of the tunnels. "You are in the Nest... home of the Sandworms," Lydia answered in a flat tone. Beetlejuice felt his insides twist. His throat closed up and he was unable to speak.

Lydia finally turned her whole body to him, her tattered ends flapping behind her. "I told you I was fine where I was. I do not always need you to keep saving me every time I get in trouble-" "But you are in trouble! If you didn't notice there are a million Sandworms everywhere!" Beetlejuice blurted out as he tried getting up, but failed. He groaned in pain as he gently sat back down in the handmade mattress.

Lydia narrowed her eyes at him, then came up to him. Beetlejuice flinched when he found himself face to face with Lydia. Lydia glared at his wide, green eyes. Beetlejuice stared back at her cold, dark brown eyes.

"Let me tell you something, BJ! Ever since I was sentenced here, I cried and waited for you to rescue me...but you never came. So I had to become my own hero. I became independent and learned to survive on my own."

Lydia removed her face away from Beetlejuice's and straightened up. Beetlejuice felt a cold feeling go through him. He stared up at Lydia who now loomed over him. She still had that glare on her face.

B-but...I...it was only a week...j-just a week..." he said, but his voice faded. Lydia raised an eyebrow. "Oh? a week? Really..." She moved away from Beetlejuice and went over to the curtain like leaf that covered the wall. She removed it and revealed the sand wall, except it had a bunch of small lines decorated all over it, from the top to the bottom.

Beetlejuice's eyes widened in horror.

"I have been counting each day...waiting for you. So now... why do I need you?!" Lydia said as her voice began to get louder and angrier. Beetlejuice's jaw dropped.

It wasn't possible!...How could it be? He...he was only in his house for three days...or was it? Did he really lose track of the days?! He might have...he didn't even know what today was! Beetlejuice began racking his brain.

Saturn's time was different from the Neitherworld and Earth's time. Each couple seconds on Sandwormland was like two to three hours on Earth! So what did that mean? Beetlejuice was not good with math, but he guesstimated that she had been trapped in Sandwormland for almost three months, which must be around five or six months in Earth/Neitherworld time!

"N-No!" Beetlejuice screamed as he staggered to his feet. Lydia let the leaf curtain drape back over the wall with lines and watched as Beetlejuice dragged himself up to her. "Lydia..." He felt tears come down his face as he stared down at the girl.

Gradually, he lifted his hands and placed them on the sides of her face. Lydia narrowed her eyes as she shoved him away. Beetlejuice gasped from the strength of the push as he fell backwards and landed on his back. The striped ghost felt the wind get knocked out of him and groaned in pain.

Lydia loomed over his body. Beetlejuice breathed heavily as his huge eyes gradually went up till they stopped and met Lydia's. She bared her teeth. "Like I said before; I don't want you here... Leave while you still have a body. I have saved you from being eaten from the others..." she growled.

Beetlejuice quickly crawled backwards from the monster before him. He crawled to the furthest corner of the small room and stayed in the shadows. His chest was rising and falling fast. Tears came down his face. He tried controlling them, but they kept trickling down his pale white face. His body trembled uncontrollably as well as the fear ran through him.

Lydia balled her fists tightly against her sides. Suddenly, Lydia's Sandworm's head appeared from the opening. Beetlejuice screamed from the sudden appearance and pressed his back against the wall, staying as far away from the two as possible. The Sandworm ignored the ghost as it turned its huge head to Lydia. It screeched and hissed to Lydia.

Lydia looked out over to the Nest. Some of the adults were going through the tunnels, heading to the surface, while the others, and the little babies stayed behind. Lydia turned back to her Sandworm and screeched back.

The Sandworm lowered its head for her to jump on. Lydia began to climb on, but then stopped when she eyed Beetlejuice's body still shaking in the corner of her room. She huffed in frustration and looked down at the ground. She hesitated for a couple seconds, then jumped off her Sandworm and walked over to Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice noticed her coming toward him and quickly jumped to his feet.

He quickly placed his hands in front of his face for protection, but Lydia grabbed his hands and forced them down. "I want you to come with me. It's time to hunt for food. You can be of use and help us...then me and Edgar will help you return home..." she said.

Beetlejuice was about to protest, but then stopped when he heard her say a name he was not familiar with. "Edgar? Who's Edgar?" he asked, raising his eyebrow in confusion. The Sandworm's head came up from behind Lydia and hissed. It red eyes glowed. Beetlejuice yelped and jumped backwards.

Lydia smirked and patted the Sandworm's nose gently. "This is Edgar. He is my loyal Sandworm," she said, introducing it to Beetlejuice. Edgar glared down at The Ghost with the Most and screeched. Beetlejuice trembled but faked a grin and pretended to tip an imaginary hat to the Sandworm with his shaking hand.

With that settled, Lydia pulled Beetlejuice toward Edgar. "Come on! We need to head to the surface," Lydia said. Beetlejuice's eyes widened even more. He shook his head and held his ground. "Oh no! No! no! no! There is _no _way I'm riding that...Edgar," he said gruffly, narrowing his eyes up at the striped beast.

Edgar hissed and Lydia's grip tightened around Beetlejuice's hands. "Get. On," Lydia snarled. Beetlejuice winced from Lydia's tight grip. He glanced back to Edgar nervously. Edgar exhaled out of his nose and looked away from Beetlejuice in disgust. Beetlejuice did as he was told and climbed up onto Edgar's head. Lydia did the same and sat in front of Beetlejuice.

Lydia held on to the first spike on the top of the Sandworm's head and screeched a command in Sandworm. Edgar slowly moved his head out of Lydia's room and lifted his head upward. Beetlejuice screamed as he wrapped his arms around Lydia's waist and held on.

Edgar cried out a long cry that made Beetlejuice wince in pain. Then, the striped Sandworm arched froward toward a tunnel and slithered through it at rapid speed, upward toward the surface.

...


	10. Chapter 10: One Who Mocks Our Stripes

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: One Who Mocks Our Stripes<strong>

**...**

Edgar broke through the sand and stretched his body toward the sun. He cried out his long, screeching cry as he rose higher and higher up. Beetlejuice held on to Lydia for dear life, keeping his eyes shut. Finally, Edgar arched downward and lowered his head down to the amber sands that stretched out for miles across the planet.

Lydia turned to Beetlejuice who still held on to her. "We're here," she said. Beetlejuice didn't seem to hear her. She tapped his head, startling him. He opened his green eyes and straightened up. "We're here?" he asked. Lydia nodded and removed his arms from her waist. They both jumped off Edgar's back.

Just then, another Sandworm broke to the surface near them, making Beetlejuice jump in terror and run behind Lydia. A couple other Sandworms broke the surface as well, making the sands rain down on the two. It was like watching whales come up from the deep waters of the ocean.

Beetlejuice stayed close to Lydia as she looked around. They ended up somewhere that had patches of colorful alien vegetation. Like small rainbow clusters of oasis dotting the place. Lydia turned her head to the adult Sandworms who had their heads down to her level.

She pulled her dead Sandworm head over hers and pointed over to the patches of made a screech. The Sandworms screeched back and arched their black and white striped bodies over her toward the oasis sections; out to hunt any Saturn creatures and bring back to the Nest.

Beetlejuice nervously watched them, staying close. Edgar nudged his nose gently against Lydia's arm and made a small cry. Lydia screeched back to him and pointed to Beetlejuice. Edgar stared at Lydia. Lydia screeched back to him again. Edgar narrowed his eyes a bit, but obeyed Lydia's orders. The Sandworm stopped, only to hiss at Beetlejuice before leaving.

Beetlejuice sighed with relief when Edgar left and turned his head to Lydia. His eyes widened when he saw she wasn't next to him. He quickly spun around and saw her heading toward the closest small oasis. Beetlejuice hurried along.

"I still can't believe you can talk to them. How can you speak Sandworm? You can't really understand those screeches...can you?" The striped clad ghost asked, his dirty pale blonde hair whipping in the winds. Lydia stared straight ahead through the mouth of the dead Sandworm. "I can. I learned by listening," she answered. Beetlejuice still couldn't believe it. He slapped a purple leaf away from his face as he continued following his friend.

"So, how did you become part of their..." he faltered at what to call the group of Sandworms. "Clan," Lydia answered as she jumped over a fallen blue and red spotted stalk. Beetlejuice did the same. "Sure. Clan," he said. Lydia narrowed her eyes but slowed down so she could tell her side of the story.

"I became part of their clan when they began to trust me," she then gestured to the dead Sandworm carcass she wore. "I found this dead baby Sandworm body in the middle of the oasis, and decided to use it to trick the Sandworms into thinking I was one of them..." Beetlejuice nodded. "How did you survive?" he asked.

"The first couple of days, I stayed hidden in one of these places," she gestured to the small jungles before her. "Eating only what seemed edible," she finished. Beetlejuice looked around at the strange colored plants around him. None of the plants seemed edible to eat...for him at least. He would rather go looking for beetles.

Instantly, the thought of beetles made his stomach growl loudly. Lydia stopped and turned to him. "Hungry?" she asked. Beetlejuice wrapped his arms around his aching stomach and nodded. "I haven't eaten in a while...are there any beetles around?" he asked. Lydia pulled out a self made wooden stake hidden under her disguise.

"There is something the Sandworms call a _jujible _around here. It looks kind of like a beetle and has wings, but its bigger then your head," she said. Beetlejuice grinned when he heard the last part and rubbed his hands together. "Ooh! Sounds like my kind of beetle-thing! So, where can you find it?" he asked.

"It usually is found hitching rides on the backs of Sandworms and starts eating their skin," she replyed. Beetlejuice grinned wider and began looking around. "Where is Edgar? I bet he has a whole bunch on his back!" he cackled as he turned. On the back of Beetlejuice was an orange and blue beetle creature. Lydia calmly raised her stake.

"Don't move," she ordered the Ghost with the Most. Beetlejuice blinked and turned back to her. "Huh? Don't move? Why can I not-" he stopped when he heard a strange clicking sound on his back. He looked over his shoulder and found himself staring face to face with four glossy red eyes and a set of sharp looking pincers.

Beetlejuice screamed like a girl and began spinning around, flailing his arms. Lydia sighed and watched the ghost humiliate himself as he freaked out over the alien beetle. She waited for the right moment, then attacked the ghost. "Oof!" Beetlejuice said as he fell onto his stomach and felt the alien beetle grip his shoulders tightly. Lydia pinned it down with one hand, and raised the wooden stake in her other hand.

Beetlejuice cringed when he heard the sharp, high pitch cry from the beetle, then felt its multiple arms go limp, loosening its grip on Beetlejuice. Lydia got up, removing the creature from the striped clad ghost's back.

Beetlejuice got up and rubbed the top of his back. "Thanks," he said, smiling a small smile, but felt very stupid inside. Lydia didn't say anything as she pulled out the wooden stake from the beetle's shiny armor- like shell. A trail of green goo followed from the dead beetle to the tip of the wooden stake. The sight of it made Beetlejuice's pale face become even more pale.

The Sandworm girl handed the beetle to her friend. Beetlejuice accepted it. He looked down at the beetle before turning his head to the side and sticking his striped tongue out in disgust. The green blood from the beetle bubbled and oozed out from the dead shell. Lydia rolled her eyes from under her disguise and walked away from the ghost and the dead beetle.

Beetlejuice looked up, noticing Lydia walking off. "Hey! Wait for me!" he called and ran after Lydia with the dead beetle still in his hands. The two continued on, hunting for food, and stopping a couple of times to rest. Beetlejuice tried the beetle and found it to be very disgusting.

"Its the only thing close to a beetle, Beetlejuice, so you can choose to starve or just eat what you have," Lydia said in an irritated tone. The two had decided to take a break and were sitting near a small stream with round rocks.

Beetlejuice averted his eyes away from her and did as he was told. He took another bite out of the beetle and forced himself to swallow it. After a couple minutes of the sounds of crunching, Beetlejuice finally finished the alien beetle. He stuck his thin striped tongue out in disgust and made a grossed out face. "Uhh...that was the worst jijigle I ever ate," he complained.

"_Jujible,_" corrected Lydia. Beetlejuice looked back up at her. "_Jujible..._" he repeated. Lydia nodded. Beetlejuice blinked. "So...the beasts actually give names to everything here?" he asked. Lydia nodded. "The Sandworms are smarter then you think," she answered.

Beetlejuice looked around the area they were resting in. He finally pointed to the stream. "So, what do they call this?" he asked. "_gurblim_," she answered. "And this?" the ghost asked as he pointed to the round rocks. "_Bolgos._" Beetlejuice continued pointing to every single thing he saw in the small jungle, and Lydia would tell him what it was in Sandworm.

"And from all the hissing and snarling, that's what it comes out as?" he asked. Lydia nodded. "And you understand it all?" Beetlejuice asked again. Lydia gave him a glare. Beetlejuice felt fear come back to him and quickly looked away, pretending to look for something else for Lydia to translate into.

After a couple minutes, he turned back and looked into Lydia's eyes. "I have known the Sandworms for a long time. I never liked them and they have never liked me...have they given me a name? he asked in a serious tone. Lydia was quiet for a minute, her hands resting on her lap. Then she finally nodded her head.

"The clan calls you _Dojakliszibe_," Lydia explained to him. Beetlejuice shifted on the round rock he sat on and gave her a confused look. "_Dojabla_-what?" he asked. Lydia stared back at him. "In English, it means, One Who Mocks Our Stripes," she translated.

Beetlejuice blinked. "One Who Mocks Our Stripes...what?!" he shouted angrily, realizing what the name meant and stood up from where he sat. "I don't _mock_ their stripes! I had the idea of stripes before they began to exist on this planet!" Beetlejuice argued.

Lydia shrugged. "That's what they think you are doing. You and the Sandworms both have black and white stripes, and they think you are insulting their stripes," she answered. Beetlejuice gritted his teeth as steam blew out of his pointy ears. "I am _not _mocking their stripes! I think _they _are the ones mocking _my _stripes!" he shouted angrily.

Lydia watched the ghost shout and throw a fit till he accidentally tripped and fell into the small stream. Beetlejuice quickly sat up and spat out the water. Lydia couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the angry, soaked ghost. She placed her hand over her mouth and laughed non stop.

Beetlejuice turned to her and was about to say something, but stopped when he realized she was laughing. It felt like years since he heard her laugh! It sounded so nice to his ears. He smiled as he watched the girl in the Sandworm carcass laugh, instantly forgetting that he was in the stream.

Suddenly, her laugh was cut short when they both heard a Sandworm cry out in the distance. They turned their heads toward the sound. Lydia's smile instantly faded and her eyes widened in horror. "No," she said as she quickly got up. Beetlejuice got up as well from the stream, soaking wet, but he didn't care at the moment.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Lydia didn't answer him as she jumped from rock to rock, then ran off into the jungle. "Lydia!" Beetlejuice cried and quickly got out of the stream and ran after her.

...


	11. Chapter 11: The Perolayx

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: The <em>Perolayx<em>**

**...**

The huge, colorful leaves slapped against Beetlejuice's face as he sprinted through the small jungle, trying to keep up with Lydia. Even with her Sandworm disguise, she was able to run through the forest as if it were nothing.

Beetlejuice felt the alien bushes and branches slap against his face, and the round rocks try to trip him under his feet. His heart jumped around next to his lungs that felt as if they were going to explode. He was not used to running so much, except when he is about to be eaten by a Sandworm, then the laws change.

Beetlejuice slowed to a stop to catch his breath. He placed his hands on his striped knees as he bent over and caught his breath. His uncombed, blonde hair fell over his pale face. Now he really did wish he had his powers back. He could just transport himself from one place to the next in seconds and not even break a sweat.

Beetlejuice wiped the sweat that appeared on his forehead with the back of his pale head. His sharp tipped tongue had lolled out as he began to pant like a dog. He lifted his head up when he heard another Sandworm scream in the distance. He slowly straightened up and started to run again. When he got to the edge of the jungle, he looked out to the other small oasis clusters all around and noticed Lydia running across the sands to the next small oasis.

From his point of view, she looked like a small Sandworm head bobbing up and down along the sands.

Above, the Sandworms were looming over the oasis, their striped bodies stretched upwards, blocking out the sun. Beetlejuice stopped as he stared up at them in terror. They were being attacked. All over their bodies were these hideous, jet black leech-like creatures wriggling all over the Sandworms.

Their bodies were bigger then Beetlejuice, and their insides glowed a purple color, revealing their discolored organs. The creatures had multiple rows of sharp barbed teeth, and were seen drilling into the Sandworm's skins and digging deep into their flesh and eating their insides. They didn't look like they had eyes, but had strong noses that could smell Sandworm blood from miles away.

One Sandworm instantly froze in mid-air. Its two mouths opened in a silent scream as its red eyes instantly dimmed out and began to tilt. Beetlejuice noticed Lydia still running towards the Sandworms. She did not seem to notice that one was falling and was about to crush her!

Beetlejuice quickly moved forward and sprinted toward Lydia. "Lydia! Stop!" he shouted. Lydia stopped and turned around. She looked at him with a confused look on her face. "What, Beetlejuice? I can't help you right now! The Sandworms-hey!" she started, but stopped when Beetlejuice scooped her up into his arms and ran to the right. Just as he got to five feet, the Sandworm crashed inches behind him, making the whole ground shake.

Beetlejuice felt his feet leave the sand before falling back to the ground. He almost lost balance, as he straightened up and held Lydia tightly against his chest. Lydia looked over Beetlejuice's shoulder and gasped in horror at what just happened.

Beetlejuice gently placed her back down onto the ground. Lydia ran around him without mumbling a thanks and went to the fallen Sandworm's side. The Sandworm cried out weakly as its black and white striped body twitched and wiggled weakly against the sands. The black leech creatures had drilled so many holes through the Sandworm, there was barely any noticeable stripes to even call a Sandworm anymore. Sandworm blood and torn organs spilled out from the dying beast.

Lydia placed her hand on top of its' head as it slowly closed its red eyes and died a slow and painful death. The black, leech creatures slowly wriggled out from the dead Sandworm toward the two. Lydia and Beetlejuice took a couple steps back.

"Wh-what are those things?!" asked Beetlejuice nervously, placing his hands in front of his chest. Lydia pulled out her spear and began swinging it in front of her when the creatures came near. One screeched at her and revealed its round mouth full of thousands of needle like teeth.

"We call them _perolayx,_ parasitic creatures that dig into the flesh of Sandworms and take over the body, eating from the inside out till there is noting left," she explained as she sliced one down the middle. The creature screamed in pain as shiny purple blood came out and a billion smaller leech-like creatures fell into the sands and wiggled like fish out of water.

"This one was a female about to give birth," said Lydia. Beetlejuice placed his hand over his mouth. "I think I'm gonna be sick," he said and turned away. One leech creature took a leap toward Beetlejuice. Lydia quickly reacted on impulse and stabbed the flying, glowing _perolayx_ in mid air at lightning speed.

The creature screeched as it wiggled, snapping its teeth at Beetlejuice's striped back, who was inches away from it. Lydia quickly flung it back into the sea of squirming_ perolayx, _then quickly grabbed Beetlejuice's sleeve and spun him around, pulling him closer to her side. "Use your magic to get rid of these creatures," she ordered him and continued stabbing and whacking the _perolayx_ with her spear.

Beetlejuice blinked and looked down at his pale faced up hands. He hesitated. He wasn't sure if he got his powers back or not. It has been a while since he checked. Beetlejuice placed his arms out in front of him toward the leech creatures and concentrated. Nothing. He tried again, imaging all the leeches to turn into a pile of round rocks. Still nothing.

"What is taking you?" asked Lydia impatiently as they continued walking backwards from the _perolayx. _Beetlejuice lowered his hands in embarrassment. "Erm...I...think I lost my powers-" he started, but was interrupted when another Sandworm screeched its last screech and began to fall toward them.

Beetlejuice and Lydia gasped in horror before exchanging glances. "Run!" cried Lydia as she grabbed the ghost's arm and bolted. They both ran, just as the huge Sandworm crashed down inbetween the leech creatures and the two, causing the whole ground to shake.

Instantly, the black, purple glowing leeches leaped forward and began to feast upon the remains of the dead Sandworm. The Sandworm's tail whipped around till it gradually stopped and went limp in the sands.

"You lost your powers?! How could you lose your powers?!" Lydia shouted over the loud Sandworm screams above them. Beetlejuice didn't know how to answer her questions. He thought back to when he used all of his magic to create the scar shaped gap in the hole and fell into Sandwormland. He must have completely lost all of his powers when he did that. Beetlejuice winced at the horrible thought and decided to push it to the back of his mind.

Beetlejuice and Lydia slowed to a stop and turned, just in time to see a couple of the remaining Sandworms slither toward them. Lydia screeched loudly and gestured to them to head back to The Nest.

Edgar appeared next to them, unharmed as he lowered his huge head down to their level. Lydia and Beetlejuice climbed on. When they were on, Edgar let out a deafening cry before arching forward and plunging into the sands. The rest of the Sandworms did the same and tunneled back to their underground home.


	12. Chapter 12: Queen of the Sandworms

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: Queen of the Sandworms<strong>

...

When the Sandworms arrived back at The Nest, there was a lot of screeches amongst them. Edgar dropped Lydia and Beetlejuice back to Lydia's room. The two jumped off the Sandworm's back and looked down at the sea of black and white below.

"Why didn't you tell me you lost your powers?" Lydia asked as she turned away from the commotion. Beetlejuice placed his red finger tipped hands up in an innocent manner. "I didn't know, Lyds! I really didn't! I mean...I kind of did, but I wasn't sure if they would come back or not!" he said with wide, sunken eyes. Lydia narrowed her eyes and looked away.

"We lost so many..." she muttered. Beetlejuice lowered his pale hands and narrowed his eyes in the process. "You did not lose many, _they_ lost many! The Sandworms! To those...those..." he looked down at his worn, black shoes as he tried remembering the name Lydia called the leech creatures.

"_Perolayx._ The Ones Who Feast," she said. Beetlejuice slowly lifted his head back up to her. Lydia fully faced him, her face frozen in the firm, serious look, inside the mouth of the dead baby Sandworm carcass. The winds inside the Nest rustled her striped tattered disguise.

"The_ perolayx_ are our enemies-" "The _Sandworm's_ enemies," corrected Beetlejuice as he got up from where he sat. "You are not a Sandworm. You are Lydia Deetz, a young goth girl who comes over to the Neitherworld when she says my name three times and is my best friend!" he said, raising his voice. Lydia narrowed her dark mascara eyes, but didn't say anything. Beetlejuice continued.

"You lost yourself to these hideous beasts! This whole world warped your brain! You need to get out of here before the Sandworms decide to eat you!" Beetlejuice shouted, making Edgar growl, baring his sharp teeth, but Lydia silently waved her arm to stop him. The second head of Edgar disappeared back inside the first mouth.

Lydia came up to the striped clad ghost, inches from his face. Her pale face had hardened. Beetlejuice started to feel scared as he glared back down at her, but held his ground. After a couple seconds of silence, Lydia finally spoke.

"You think the Sandworm's are the worst things in the entire universe. You are wrong. The _perolayx_ are far worse then the Sandworms. They are mindless machines that eat and eat till there is nothing left in Sandwormland! Because of them, it's hard for us to find food and survive! Our planet is dying..._we_ are dying because of them! We won't be able to live here for long when the _perolayx_ find this place and eat us till there is nothing left!" Lydia said. Beetlejuice didn't say anything as her insane words sank into his head.

"I am willing to fight for my kind and to put an end to this misery and suffering we are having to survive through," she added. Beetlejuice glared at Lydia. He was starting to get tired of her saying "we" all the time. He felt like he was not included, and was considered a threat. He didn't want her to die just for a bunch of stupid striped overgrown worms. He wanted her back to the Neitherworld with him.

"You don't know what I had to go through when I encountered the Sandworms, Lydia," he snarled. Lydia snarled back. "I think I do. I had to survive on my own down here. The only way to live another day was to befriend the Sandworms..." She was quiet for a moment.

"Come. I want to show you something," she said. She turned toward Edgar. Edgar lowered his head down for her as she climbed on. Lydia looked down at Beetlejuice who didn't move from his spot.

She held her hand out impatiently for him to take. Beetlejuice took a deep breath and exhaled before accepting her hand and climbing onto Edgar's head. When they were both on, Edgar lowered his head down along the sand wall till he came to a huge opening of a tunnel.

The glowing green rocks were seen sitting just outside of the entrance. The cave was dark, and didn't have any glowing rocks to light up the place. It was as if the glowing rocks were scared to venture into the tunnel itself. Edgar rested his scarred head against the cold, sand ground. Lydia and Beetlejuice jumped off.

Lydia grabbed a small green glowing rock from a cluster and pulled out a thick stick. She made the glowing rock touch the top of the stick and waited. Soon the tip of the stick began to glow and instantly ignited into a green fire. "Follow me," she said.

Beetlejuice followed the Sandworm girl into the cave. Stalagmites and stalactites were seen all throughout the huge tunnel. "The first couple weeks when I was sent here, I survived on my own. I ate the fruits from the small jungles, and wore the body of a baby Sandworm." Lydia lightly ran her finger across the dark green lip of the baby Sandworm's dead carcass above her head before continuing.

"Later, I met Eldthegar, or Edgar as I call him. He was surrounded by the _perolayx,_ weak and wounded. I was able to help him fight them off. He was weak and left by the other Sandworms to die. I fed him and nursed him back to health. Edgar became loyal to me, and brought me back to his clan," Lydia explained as she continued to walk further down the tunnel. Beetlejuice was quiet as he listened to Lydia's story.

"I was brought before their ruler, Golth. Golth was the biggest and oldest Sandworm in The Nest; a legend. He had fought against the _perolayx _during the Great Sand Storms of Saturn; before the time Saturn's moon: Titan, was struck by a meteor. When he first saw me, he didn't like me, and wished me gone. Edgar tried reasoning with him, but got hurt in the process by Golth. I intervened, and found myself fighting for my life."

Lydia lifted up her hand-made spear in her other hand. "I was able to save my own skin with this," she said. Beetlejuice's eyes widened in surprise, then noticed the whole tunnel open up into another huge room. The green light from the flames illuminated the whole place.

Stalactites and Stalagmites were seen all over the ceiling and the ground, like being inside a shark's mouth. The only area that wasn't with the teeth like formations was a path that ran along to the other side of the room.

A poorly made throne carved out of a cluster of stalactites and stalagmites was seen on the opposite end of the room from the path. It was adorned with old Sandworm fangs and a huge Sandworm skull mounted on the top.

Lydia walked up to the throne before turning around and looking down at Beetlejuice's shocked face. The Sandworm skull seemed to hover over the girl's head. "I was the one who killed their recent leader...and now...I am _quetzileth-baruba_, their Young Queen Awaken from Death," she explained. "And now, it has become my responsibility to take care of my kingdom, and to keep my kind safe from the evil that lurks out there upon the surface of Saturn."

Then, she cried out a long,Sandworm-like cry.

Right as she finished, all of the Sandworms of The Nest appeared in the room from the ground. They saw their queen at her throne. Then, they arched their backs backwards and cried their creepy, long cries before lowering their heads, bowing.

Beetlejuice spun around and moved away from them, then he looked up to Lydia. She lifted her hand up. Beetlejuice stared at the scene before him in horror. It was too late...Lydia was gone. She was now the Queen of the Sandworms.

...


	13. Chapter 13:The Tears of Laughter and Joy

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: The Tears of Laughter and Joy <strong>

...

Soon the sun began to set across Saturn. The Sandworms who survived were able to find a couple furry creatures during the hunt. They placed the dead rat- like bodies down in the middle of the Nest. Lydia approached the small pile of rodent like creatures before taking her portion of the share. Then she got out of the place before the other Sandworms attacked the pile of dead meat.

Lydia came up to Beetlejuice who stood away from the area near a pile of rocks. She offered him a piece of cut meat from her share. Beetlejuice quickly shook his head and smiled a fake smile. "I'm good, thanks," he said, but his stomach didn't as it grumbled hungrily. Lydia sat down near him and began to prepare a fire.

She got a pile of sticks and pieces of plants from the Sandworm nests and placed a couple glowing stones in the middle of it. Soon the stones ignited the kindling, and created a green fire. It gradually shimmered from blue to green and back again as Lydia stabbed her alien rodent meat onto the end of her spear and held it over the fire.

Beetlejuice sat down next to her on a round rock and watched her cook the meat. They were quiet for a while. The only sounds were from the savage Sandworms as they tore their sharp teeth into the pile of meat before them. Beetlejuice felt a shiver run up his spine and turned his body away from it. He tried ignoring the sounds of flesh being torn to bits and gobbled down by the massive beasts, but it was no use; the sounds were loud and disturbing.

He turned back to Lydia, who took the meat from the fire and began tearing into it with her teeth. The sight made Beetlejuice sick. He held his hands up in disgust. "Erm, Lydia? I know this is going to sound weird hearing this from me, but can you please eat like a normal human being? Please?" he asked. Lydia looked up from her meat to the appalled striped clad ghost. Her mouth was dripping with blood.

Beetlejuice instantly felt lightheaded and started to sway. "I think I'm gonna faint," he said as he placed the back of his hand on top of his pale forehead. Lydia wiped the blood away with the back of her arm. She watched as the Ghost with the Most pretended to sway before falling backwards and landing behind the round rocks. Lydia smirked at his over the top drama and giggled. Beetlejuice smiled as he laid on his back. She was laughing again. He got up to his feet and swayed again, acting out as a fainting person.

Lydia's giggle turned into laughter as Beetlejuice became her jester. Beetlejuice grinned as he moved around, but kept his eyes on her. He felt good inside, seeing her laugh again.

The Sandworm's looked up from their place when they heard laughter. Their red eyes focused on their queen, then over to the one they thought mocked their stripes. A couple exchanged glances, while the others stared at Lydia in confusion. She was laughing. It was strange to see their queen laugh at something so pathetic and insulting.

The Sandworms rested their eyes on Beetlejuice and watched him as he danced around like a headless _squirble. _One of the Sandworms started to try and copy Lydia's laughter, opening its mouth and showing its sharp teeth, and forcing out a screeching chortle.

It didn't sound like a normal laugh, more like a hoarse cough. A couple others joined in. Beetlejuice stopped when he heard the strange sounds and looked up to the Sandworms that loomed high up near them. Lydia stopped laughing and noticed them laughing their deranged laughs. She giggled as she wiped the tears of laughter from her face.

She smirked and looked over to Beetlejuice. "They do not understand laughter. Or humor," she said. Beetlejuice felt his face burn as he looked over to Lydia. To Beetlejuice's disappointment, Lydia's smile faded away as she got up from where she sat as the green fire died out near her. The Sandworms stopped trying to laugh and slithered away from the two.

"I promised to take you home," Lydia said as she came up to Beetlejuice. "Not without you," Beetlejuice said, straightening up. Lydia shook her head. "I am not leaving here, not until I know my kind are safe," she said. Beetlejuice rubbed his face in frustration. "They are not..." his voice faded when he saw Lydia glare at him. He sighed and looked away. What was the point of trying to correct her. She was now a Sandworm. Beetlejuice decided to keep his mouth shut.

After a couple minutes of silence, Lydia finally spoke up. "How did you get down here anyway?" she asked. Beetlejuice thought for a minute. He really wasn't sure. He looked over to her, and held out his hand. "I'll show you," he said.

Lydia stared down at his hand, then screeched. Edgar appeared in a heartbeat next to them. Beetlejuice grumbled something as he lowered his hand, then gestured to Edgar. "Your carriage, my queen," he said in a mock British accent.

Lydia turned away from the ghost, but Beetlejuice was able to capture a glimpse of a smile on her face. She climbed up onto Edgar's head, then Beetlejuice joined her. When they were both on, Edgar made a new tunnel and made his way up through the layers of sands to the surface.

...

When they got outside, Beetlejuice jumped off of Edgar's head and landed into the sands. Lydia landed next to him. Beetlejuice walked a couple steps away as he searched the skies. The whole skies were a deep royal blue, with reds, yellows and oranges swirling and blending into it. The winds blew against their clothes and hair as they stood. The sands smacked against their legs.

Lydia walked behind Beetlejuice till he stopped and pointed upwards toward the colorful skies. "There," he said as he pointed at the scar shaped hole in the middle of the sky. Lydia stared up at it. Her dark eyes widened at the sight of it.

The scar shaped hole still stood out from all of it. It was like looking through a window. Lydia's eyes stayed glued onto it. Edgar looked up as well with his red eyes. His second head came out from his mouth and sniffed the air.

Beetlejuice turned away from the scar shaped hole and lowered his arm as he stared at Lydia. "I used all my magic to create that hole. It took me a million tries to finally create that gap and losing my powers... so I could enter into this world and rescue you..." he said as his voice faltered. Lydia continued staring at the gap, transfixed.

The two were silent for a while.

Gradually, Lydia looked away from the gap and over to Beetlejuice. She noticed Beetlejuice's head was down, making his blonde hair cover his face. Lydia watched as teardrops began to drip down from the striped clad ghost's face and make contact with the sands at his feet.

Lydia felt her heart sink a little as she stared at her friend. Lydia came up to him and touched his shoulder. Beetlejuice stiffened and quickly turned his head away to wipe his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He sniffed. "I know...I'm pathetic..." he said in a low voice as he tried stopping the tears from coming down his face.

Lydia shook her head. She hesitated for a moment before wrapping her arms around his waist. "No, you are not," she said, causing Beetlejuice to lift his head up in surprise and turn to her. Gradually, his tears stopped and he straightened up. Lydia hugged him tighter.

"You are my best friend," she said. Beetlejuice felt his heart flop inside his chest. The ends of his mouth tugged upward into a smile. More tears came down the ghost's face, but he didn't care. They were the tears of joy. Then, he wrapped his arms around Lydia and felt closer to her then he ever did.

After a while, Lydia pulled away from Beetlejuice and looked up at his eyes. "Come, it's getting late. We should head back," she said. Beetlejuice stared down at her. "Are...are you still taking me back?" he asked. Lydia smirked. "We'll talk about it in the morning, but now, we should get some rest," she said. Beetlejuice gave her a slightly confused look. Then, he gave in and nodded his head.

"Ok," he said. He didn't know why she wasn't taking him home that very moment, but he didn't care. He didn't ever want to leave her side; and it gave him extra time to convince her to come back to the Neitherworld with him.

With that, Beetlejuice loosened his arms from Lydia and started to head toward Edgar. Lydia started to follow after him, but stopped one last time to look up at the scar shaped hole in the middle of the sky. Two worlds touching each other. Staring back. Lydia gazed up at it before turning back and walking towards her loyal Sandworm, and her best friend.

...


	14. Chapter 14: The Graveyard

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14: The Graveyard <strong>

...

Beetlejuice slept soundly on Lydia's bed. He had no nightmares of Sandworms or the _perolayx. _It made him very happy. He smiled as he turned over. His hand flopped down, somewhat hoping to brush up against Lydia, but all he felt were a bunch of leaves sewn together as the blanket. Beetlejuice blinked his eyes open and noticed Lydia's side of the bed was empty.

He quickly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he sat upright in a panic and looked around the room. "Lydia?" he called out. No answer. Lydia was gone? Where did she go? He needed to know! He got up and looked out over the Nest. He squinted his eyes to see if there was that strange looking Sandworm with arms and legs. He had no luck.

Beetlejuice sighed as he moved away from the edge of the entrance. "Why would she leave without telling me?" he asked him self in a low voice as he looked around the room. He started to feel worried. Maybe one of the Sandworms-! Beetlejuice shook his head violently. "No! They wouldn't have done that..." he said to himself angrily. He thought for a minute.

"Maybe she left a note around or something," Beetlejuice said to himself. His emerald green eyes flickered to the right when he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Sure enough, on a handmade lopsided table with multiple legs with strange wood the color of blood red mixed with plum purple, was a small, folded leaf with a couple words scribbled on it.

Laying next to it was a cracked clay plate with a couple of dead beetle creatures Beetlejuice hated. The striped clad ghost reached down and picked up the envelope from the table and began to read:

_"BJ-_

_ Gone Hunting_

_-Lydia_

_P.S. Eat"_

Beetlejuice made a face as he looked down at the upside-down lifeless...What were they called again? _Jui...?...jeblibl?.._.Beetlejuice stuck his striped tongue out in the process of trying to say the strange word. Then he shook his head in frustration. "I can't keep track of all this mumbo jumbo that goes on in this crazy planet!" he sighed angrily and sat down on a handmade chair that was out of the same material as the table.

Beetlejuice picked up the first beetle on top of the small pile. Its glossy underside reflected against the green rocks in the corners of the room. It's filmy, lifeless eyes bulged out from its small, fist-sized head. Beetlejuice turned his head away and stuck his long, sharp tongue out. His beak-like nose wrinkled from the horrible, sick smell wafting from it.

He finally shook his head and placed the dead beetle back on the plate. "No...I can't eat anymore of those beetle things! They aren't like the beetles back home!" he cried angrily as he got up, knocking the chair over. The chair made a clattering sound against the hard packed sandy ground.

Beetlejuice froze and looked out to the Sandworm Nest. None of the Sandworms bothered to come and see where the noise came from. Most of the female and baby Sandworms were still sleeping. Beetlejuice exhaled. He sighed sadly, his shoulders sagging as he turned around and placed the chair back onto its feet.

He sat back down and forced himself to eat the beetles until the plate was clean. Beetlejuice rubbed his upset stomach as it made strange, unsettling gurgling noises. "I'm sorry, but Lydia wanted me to..." he said, then quickly placed his hand over his mouth to keep it from coming back up.

After waiting for his stomach to settle, Beetlejuice went out at the edge of the carved out room and looked out over the vast tunnel system of the Nest. So many tunnels were used over and over, or new ones were created when an old one decided to cave in on itself. Only the Sandworms knew which tunnels lead up or down, and where they even ended up at. Beetlejuice sighed as he rested his hand along the side.

He was not going to be able to get out of the Nest by himself. Beetlejuice felt sick again as he watched the massive striped, spiked backed beasts intertwine and lace through each -other, like living rose thorns. None of the Sandworms liked him, and he didn't think they would give him a ride up to the surface to get to Lydia.

Beetlejuice looked down at his pale hands again. He had a horrible feeling that he completely lost all of his powers forever. He used his right index finger to lightly trace the lines inside the palm of his hand. Nothing. He sighed as he let his limbs go limp against his sides. Gradually, his eyes focused on the side of the sand wall. He followed it up, past the top of the entrance hole of Lydia's room to another hole above it. A tunnel!

Beetlejuice stared at the opening of the tunnel above his head, just out of reach. He turned around and looked in Lydia's dug out room to see if he could find anything to use to reach the tunnel above. He spotted the chair. Perfect. He ran over to it and grabbed it, then came back over to the edge. He placed it down, then stood on it.

His arms instantly went out to his sides as he slowly stood up straight and stared up at the tunnel. The edge of it was inches from him. The chair wobbled a bit underneath him. He was going to have to work fast. He reached up and placed his hands down and started to climb.

Suddenly, the hard packed sands underneath the chair gave in and crumbled, making the chair start to slide over. Beetlejuice yelped and quickly held on to the side of the sand wall. His fingers digging deep into the hard soil. The chair skidded from the striped clad ghost's feet and fell over the edge through the air. Beetlejuice flinched when it crashed down below onto one of the Sandworm's heads and bouncing off onto two more. They screeched angrily, thus creating a domino effect and waking the whole Nest up.

Beetlejuice stared down at them with a nervous look on his face. The Sandworms gradually lifted their heads and noticed him clinging to dear life on the side of the rock-wall.

They hissed angrily as their eyes glowed in the dim Nest. They revealed their sharp teeth, then their second heads came out and revealed their sharp teeth. Beetlejuice screamed and quickly found extra strength stored inside him as he climbed up onto the edge of the tunnel, got up and bolted into the pitch black darkness of it.

Instantly all of the Sandworms rose up like a tsunami wave of black and white and tried all going into the tunnel at once. Their eyes glowed in the darkness as they violently thrashed and shook their heads, trying to wiggle through, but was wedged between all the other Sandworms.

Beetlejuice could hear their angry cries as he continued through the dark tunnel, placing his hands in front of him just in case he ran into anything. Wind crashed against his body and teased his flowing disheveled blonde hair as he continued through. Gradually, it started to curve, and ascend higher upward toward the surface. Beetlejuice's legs pumped furiously faster and faster till he found himself nearly running straight upward and saw the outside! Beetlejuice grinned.

"Freedom!" he cried and ran toward the light. He leaped forward when the opening of the tunnel got bigger and bigger. He landed on his arms and legs in the hot sands but he didn't care. He was out of the Nest! He grinned as he panted heavily from all the running. His mouth still was tainted with the nasty taste of the alien Saturn beetles but he ignored it. His legs were burning not only from the sun and sands. His head was down sweat trickled down his face.

After he got his breath back. He lifted his head up and looked around. He wasn't in a familiar place near any type of small oasis. Around him looked like a graveyard. Beetlejuice slowly got up as the sands blew across the dreadful place. Scattered for miles all over, were Sandworm bones. The sands smacked up against the pearly ivory, giving them an amber tint.

The place felt surreal, and unwelcoming as Beetlejuice began to walk through it. Ribs loomed over him like frozen waves. Sandworms skulls grinned at him as if thinking of attacking him, but never moved. Some looked like the Sandworm froze in mid attack in a stance that stayed stuck in time. Its coiled skeletal body ascending to the blue skies with its mouth open in a silent scream and its empty, socket eyes wide in terror.

Beetlejuice instantly felt a pain slice through his heart, making it jolt inside him. When did this happen?! The bones look like they haven't been here for a long time! What if this lost battle was recent! What if Lydia was part of it?!

Beetlejuice cupped his hands around his mouth and started to call Lydia's name. "Lydia! Lydia!" he cried. Silence. He began to to walk faster through the huge graveyard. "Lydia!" he cried as his eyes darted left and right for her. "Lydia!" he shouted again, tears started to fill his eyes.

Then he gradually slowed to a stop when he came to a drop off over a dune and looked out over it. The graveyard went on for miles and miles as the morning sunlight glinted off of the alabaster bones scattered through the sands. Beetlejuice's eyes widened in horror. His hair flapping behind him in the winds.

_What happened?_

Just then, a strange sound was heard. It didn't sound like a Sandworms cry. It sounded like high pitch gurgling noises, with a couple high pitch screams in the mix. Beetlejuice squinted his eyes and placed his hand horizontally over his eyes and looked out across the dead plains. A black sea of squirming creatures were seen coming across the graveyard straight toward him. Beetlejuice's eyes widened and he took a step back. It was an army of those leech creatures! _Perolayx!_

Beetlejuice gasped in horror and quickly turned around and ran back through the graveyard. The _perolayx_ were heard wriggling across the sands at top speed. Their millions of teeth scraping against each other as they sniffed out their small prey.

Beetlejuice continued running, then quickly hid behind a huge Sandworm rib that was thicker then his body and squatted behind it, breathing heavily. He held his breath when he heard the leeches come like a black wave over the bones they might have picked clean.

Beetlejuice watched them go through the grave yard like spilled oil. Their small teeth gleamed in the morning light, making Beetlejuice cringe. There were so many of them! How were the Sandworms going to fight them? How was Lydia going to help the Sandworms find a safer place away from the _perolayx?!_

Just then, one of the black slimy creatures stopped and sniffed out something. It turned its head around and sniffed in the air around it. Then, it sensed the foul, but familiar smell of Beetlejuice.

*_screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeecccccchhhh!_* it shrilled loudly, making Beetlejuice groan and place his two index fingers in his pointy ears. The whole wave of _perolayx_ stopped and looked over toward Beetlejuice's hiding spot. Beetlejuice's eyes widened in horror when he noticed they found him.

He screamed as the whole army began to come toward him. In a panic, he quickly shimmied up the tall, curved rib bone he was pressed up against and held on at the tip top. His arms and legs wrapped around it. The leech creatures screeched and snapped their needle-like teeth at him. Their insides glowing empty stomachs, waiting to be filled with his ghost flesh.

Beetlejuice held on tightly as he looked down at the hungry sea of leeches and screamed in terror. "HEEEELLLLPPP!" he cried desperately, hoping someone would help him.


	15. Chapter 15: The Invasion

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15: The Invasion<strong>

**...**

Beetlejuice bunched his legs higher up as the leech creatures began slowly crawling up toward him. Beetlejuice gripped the tip of the bone tightly with his body and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the end to come-

Suddenly, He heard a screech and opened his eyes. Beetlejuice turned and saw Edgar rising up from the ground, causing some of the leech creatures to be shoved away in a wave of sand. On top of Edgar's head, rode Lydia, in her Sandworm disguise. Edgar arched his body over the army and toward where Beetlejuice was. Lydia brought out her spear and quickly jumped on the tip of the rib bone Beetlejuice was on.

She swung her spear at the creatures. The creatures hissed and snapped their needle-like teeth as they tried making contact with her flesh. Lydia fought the leeches as they came close to her and the striped clad ghost. "Go!" shouted Lydia as she attacked the _perolayx._ Beetlejuice looked over to Edgar, who had his head close to where he was.

Beetlejuice felt a sudden stab of fear hit him as he stared at Edgar's head close to him. "Go!" Lydia shouted. Beetlejuice shook the fear from him as he curled his legs underneath him, then sprang forward toward the Sandworm. Beetlejuice landed on Edgar's striped snout. Once Lydia saw Beetlejuice off the rib bone, she stopped fighting and leaped toward Edgar. As she was soaring through the air, she went down and grabbed the back of Beetlejuice's collar, and pulled him off Edgar's snout.

Beeteljuice yelped as he was pulled off and ended up on the back of Edgar. Lydia landed next to him and screeched to Edgar to leave fast. Edgar lifted his head up and screeched back; then he moved backwards and slid back into the hole he created and disappeared. The dark _perolayx _screeched and hissed angrily as they dove into Edgar's tunnel and chased after them.

Beetlejuice pressed his head down against the Sandworm's skin and held on for dear life as they zipped through the Sandworm made tunnels. He squeezed his eyes shut from the dirt and debris as it hit him in the face.

Lydia's Sandworm hood fell off and her hair whipped through the icy cold winds in the tunnel. She turned her head when she heard the strange high screeching sounds of the_ perolayx._

She turned back and screeched to Edgar to lose them. With that, Edgar whipped his tail up against the ceiling of the tunnel. His strong, sharp tail pierced through the ceiling, causing the soils and rocks to come crashing down behind them. The leech creatures screeched when they noticed the tunnel beginning to concave in on itself and tried warning the others to turn back, but it was too late.

The _perolayx_ ducked and dodged through it, but the sands continued to pile up on top of them. The sounds of the leech creatures rang through the tunnels along with the sounds of sands crashing into sands, then gradual silence. Dust snaked through the tunnels after the three as they continued through the multiple tunnel system.

Beetlejuice opened his eyes and smiled from what he heard. "You did it! they're gone!" he said and looked over to Lydia. His smile faded when he noticed Lydia with a stoic expression on her face as she stared straight ahead, not giving the striped clad ghost a mere glance. Beetlejuice closed his mouth and slowly looked away from her.

The two rode on the back of Edgar in silence as the Sandworm slithered through the tunnels back to the nest.

...

Once they made it back, Edgar arched his neck from the tunnel above Lydia's room down, acting as a slide. Lydia slid down Edgar's back and into her room. Beetlejuice did the same and walked up to her. "Lydia, what's-" he started.

Lydia abruptly turned to him, stopping him in mid sentence. "What were you doing out there in the middle of the graveyard?" she asked. Beetlejuice's eyes widened. Then he furrowed them a bit. "I went out looking for you! You can't just go out on your own without me!" he said.

"I can! You don't need to be with me every single second! I can take care of myself!" Lydia snarled. Beetlejuice flared his nostrils. "Yes! I know! But you put yourself in greater danger by going out there and making me worry about you! Why didnt you tell me you were going out?" he asked.

Lydia pointed at Beetlejuice's chest. "You were sleeping, I didn't want to disturb you, and if you didn't notice: My clan needed food to eat! The _perolayx _are ruining all the small jungles and eating every last thing across this planet!" she shouted angrily.

Beetlejuice sighed in frustration as he rolled his head back. "How many times do I have to tell you?! They are _not_ your clan-!" "_Yes_ they are, Beetlejuice! they are my family! I need to help them or we will all die-" Lydia shouted over him. "No!" interrupted Beetlejuice as he gripped her shoulders and looked into her cold, unfriendly eyes.

"_You_ will die if you continue to stay here! Don't you see? You have been here for more than a couple months and you now think you are a Sandworm!" She raised her hand to smack his hands away from her shoulders, but he grabbed it and raised her hand to her face.

"Look! Do Sandworms have hands?" he asked her. Lydia glanced at her pale, fingerless gloved hand, then looked back at The Ghost with the Most, trying to figure out where he was going with this. "Do Sandworms feel love?" he asked as he laced his fingers into hers, still staring into her eyes. Lydia's hard face seemed to soften a little as they stared at each other in silence.

"You are not one of them...you are a human girl, who is best friends with a ghost, who takes you on adventures, and helps him get out of the messes he makes," he said as he smiled a small smile. Lydia didn't say anything as she listened to him.

"You don't belong here...Lydia Deetz...Please..." his voice faltered for a minute when he felt his thraot closing up. "Please...come back with me," he said in a soft voice. Lydia could see his emerald green eyes beginning to fill up with tears.

She was quiet for a moment. Not saying anything. Finally, she opened her mouth and was about to say something, but then all the sudden a loud series of cries were heard down below. Lydia gasped and moved away from Beetlejuice toward the edge of her room and looked down toward the Nest.

Below, a whole swarm of perolayx are seen spilling out of one of the Sandworm tunnels like a plague of rats and starts attacking the Sandworms. Lydia and Beetlejuice gasp in horror at what their eyes were seeing. Sandworms coiled and uncoiled in fear. Interlacing and tangling amongst themselves as they tried to flee away from the sea of squirming black leeches as they jumped through the air by the thousands and attached themselves to the striped snake bodies of the Sandworms.

Most were seen getting away through the tunnels as fast as they could with a couple perolayx on their backs, drilling into their bodies. Lydia screeched loudly and was about to jum, but Beetlejuice quickly grabbed her before she could plunge toward the chaos below.

"What are you doing?! Are you crazy?! If you go down there those things will kill you!" he shouted. Lydia flicked away from him. "I need to help them!" she said angrily. Beetlejuice shook his head. "They can help themselves, Lydia. Right now, you need to think of yourself and find a way to get out!" he said.

Lydia narrowed her eyes, then she looked over to the Sandworms and watched as some were able to get away, while the rest squirmed and screeched in pain, pleading for their queen to save them. Lydia closed her eyes tightly and turned it away. Their cries still ringing in her ears till it was only the sounds of the perolayx tearing the black and white flesh away with their powerful teeth.

Finally, Lydia looked out again and cried out a strange cry in Sandworm. The cry echoed through the whole Nest and through the tunnels. Then she turned to Beetlejuice with the scariest glare he had ever seen her give him. He took a step back.

Just then, Edgar appeared behind her. He climbed on without breaking the stare from Beetlejuice. "Come," she said in a low voice. Beetlejuice hesitated, then started to move when he felt the whole Nest shake and the sounds of the leeches getting closer. He climbed on Edgar's back. Edgar moved his head out of the room, then snaked all the way up to another tunnel and slithered through it. The glowing rocks tumbled and crashed around them as they went through.

Edgar made a new tunnel, making Lydia and Beetlejuice to press themselves close to his back as he rose up to the surface and stretched his body up into the air, then gradually came back down gracefully. Beetlejuice and Lydia jumped off. Their bodies were covered in a layer of dust and mixed sands but they didnt care as they stared at what was left of the Sandworm clan. There were around less than two hundred of the clan. The Sandworms interlaced through each other, crying out in fear.

The sky had turned a cold bluish purple and the sun was nowhere to be seen, only a fine gold line along the horizon of the planet. The multiple moons were seen floating in the sky, along with the scar that revealed a patch of the Neitherworld. Beetlejuice stared up at it and sighed as the cool winds teased his messy blonde hair filled with sand.

Then he turned back and saw Lydia talking to the Sandworms in their language. He watched her as she gestured to them then upwards. Beetlejuice narrowed his eyes in concern. He came up to her when the Sandworms departed. "What did you tell them?" he asked her. Lydia looked over to where the Nest was located.

"I told them that we must keep going...and to not look back...We lost many friends and family members...but they will always be remembered in our hearts..and live on amongst the stars..." she rose her hands up, then gradually dropped them. Beetlejuice was silent as he stared at her back. The she turned to him, her jet black hair swaying in the wind.

"We need to find a new place to stay. The whole place is almost invaded with the _perolayx_... They breed like crazy and we can't defeat them..." Her eyes narrow angrily as she lowers her head. Beetlejuice thought he saw tears in her eyes. She cared so much for the Sandworms...now they had no home...no place to go. Beetlejuice started to come up to her, but stopped when she lifted her head up.

"But...you gave us a solution to our problem, Beetlejuice," she lifted her head up. Beetlejuice did as well. His face became more white. The scar in the middle of the sky. The rip in the air that connected both worlds. A doorway to the other side.

"L-Lydia-!" started Beetlejuice, but Lydia interrupted him and pointed up at the scar shaped rip in the periwinkle sky. "We must find a better place, a place without the perolayx eating us out! We are going to rise up! We are going to leave this place and head up to...The Neitherworld!" Lydia shouted at him. The Sandworms behind her threw their heads back and cried upwards to the gap.

Beetlejuice eyes widened. "Wh-what?! The Neitherworld?! Lydia-!" he started as he approached her, but stopped when she gave him a creepy glare. "And you can't change my mind, Beetlejuice. This is the only way I can save my kind," then she turned and started walking away from him. Her tattered disguise trailing behind her like a limp tail. Beetlejuice's mouth opened and closed like a gapping fish. He couldn't believe what he was hearing!

"Lydia! You are talking crazy talk! What about your friends?" he asked. She kept walking. "What about Jock and Ginger! and the Monster across the Street?!" Beetlejuice tried again, reminding her if she forgot. Lydia's walk seemed to change as she slowed, then shook her head and picked up again. Beetlejuice followed right behind her, trying to make her remember again.

"You know the Neitherworld wont be able to handle the Sandworms! The Sandworms-!" Suddenly, a loud sound was heard from a good distance away. Instantly, an eruption of black came spewing up from all the Sandworm holes, like geysers. The_ perolayx_ came by the billions. Their teeth glistening in the remaining sunlight and coming toward them like an ocean of black ink.

Beetlejuice screamed, but was drowned out by the scared cries of the _perolayx_. Lydia turned to the Sandworms and screamed a Sandworm cry and pointed upwards to the scar shaped gap. Without hesitation, the Sandworms craned their necks and bodies upwards toward their only hope of freedom. Lydia jumped on Edgar's head and offered Beetlejuice a hand. "Hurry! We dont have much time!" she shouted. Beetlejuice grabbed her hand and climbed up on Edgar's head.

Then, Edgar lifted his striped head upwards toward the scar shaped gap. Up, up and up they rose. Higher and higher till they were within arms reach. Beetlejuice looked down one last time at the surface of Saturn. No more was it covered in the amber gold sands, but the dark, squirming black, oily bodies of the _perolayx._ Like an evil shadow across the whole surface of the planet; it looked like there was nothing left of the planet, except for its own ring...


	16. Chapter 16: The Sandworm Apocalypse

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16: The Sandworm Apocalypse <strong>

...

Beetlejuice gripped Edgar tightly as they flew toward the gap that led into the other side. Edgar flew through the gap, thus rising up and looming above the twisting roads and deceased plants of the Neitherworld.

Beetlejuice peered over Edgar's head and gazed out over the undead realm. His home. The other Sandworms screeched and tossed their heads right and left. The citizens of the Neitherworld saw the Sandworms.

They screamed in terror at the sight of the beasts coming out from the ground as if they were demons from hell. The Sandworms twisted and writhed as they came through the gap to the world of the undead. They screamed in a high pitch shrill before slithering out across the roads.

Edgar lowered his head. Lydia pointed to Beetlejuice's roadhouse that stood a good distance away from them. "I promised I would take you back home," Lydia said. Beetlejuice stared at her. Her eyes were still cold and dark. They looked as through they were shrouded by a dark cloud. As if they weren't her eyes at all...

"Lydia...I know you care about the Sandworms...but you are making a big mistake...The Sandworms don't belong here with the undead! As much as I love chaos and destruction, I don't like the idea of Sandworms being the main cause of it..."

Lydia narrowed her eyes in rage and pointed to the ground. "Get off," she snarled. Beetlejuice stared at her. His heart filled with hurt from her bitterness. This was not Lydia. This was a savage queen to her beasts; The Sandworms. He didn't know how to stop her. She wouldn't listen to him...it was all his fault. He created her. The monster that she has become..

Beetlejuice averted his eyes away from the female he thought he once knew. He slid off Edgar. Edgar screeched a pathetic screech as he looked at Beetlejuice with concern in his red eyes. Beetlejuice stared at him sadly before turning away. Lydia screeched for Edgar to go, but Edgar wouldnt move. He only stared at Beetlejuice.

"Let's go Edgar!" Lydia shouted again.= impatiently. Edgar looked away from Beetlejuice and lunged forward toward the city where all the other Sandworms were heading. Te winds teased Beetlejuice's blonde hair and striped attire as he turned his head and watched Lydia in her Sandworm disguise ride the striped beast called Edgar head toward the Neitherworld city with tears in his eyes...

...

Lydia made it to the city. The Sandworms were already slithering through the streets, chasing screaming skeletons, and terrified ghosts. Edgar rested his head on top of a poorly constructed, crooked building. Lydia jumped off and stared down at the chaos that was unfolding before her. Dark clouds swirled overhead, with possible chances of rain about to fall down upon the destruction.

Lydia kept her dead Sandworm hood over her head, peering through the teeth in the slightly gapping mouth. She smelled the dry blood inside, but assumed it was hers. In her mind she hand no hands or arms, just a powerful long snake like body. She was the ruler of her kind. The Sandworms as the Neitherwolrd people called them. She didn't mind. They would all soon learn who was on top of the food chain...

Fires began to erupt in some parts of the buildings in the city. Sandworms rubbed up against the corners of the structures, causing them to buckle and crumble. Glass was heard being shattered and street lights being crushed. A couple fire hydrants went off and shot up straight into the black sky like geysers.

A small smile formed on Lydia's mouth within the dark inside of the deceased Sandworm hood. She instantly felt right at home in their new environment...This was the perfect place for her kind to live. No_ perolayx,_ no struggle for food...it was all here...In the Neitherworld...their new home...

* * *

><p>...<p>

Beetlejuice slumped facedown on the crusty, worn out couch when he came in. He sighed as he breathed in the rotten smells of it. He was home...but he didnt feel like he was...it almost felt foreign to him...like something was missing...Beetlejuice's mind brought up endless images of Lydia. He missed her so much...why couldnt he have just accepted the punishment instead of being an idiot?!

Beetlejuice gritted his teeth when he felt the excruciating pain once again enter through his body to his heart like a powerful lightning strike. It hurt so much, making him groan. His body tensed up. Tears filled his eyes and stained his vomit green couch. He cried silently as he laid there alone...

Just then, Jacques and Ginger came in from the sound and gasped. "Be-etlejuice!" the skeleton cried happily as he picked up the crestfallen Ghost with the Most and hugged him happily. Beetlejuice didn't fight the overly excited skeleton and let him embrace him in a hug. Ginger crawled up Beetlejuice's leg up to his shoulder and hugged the side of his head.

"Beetlejuice where have you been?! Its been six months since we last saw you!" Ginger cried as she buried her lavender purple head into his dirty blonde hair. Beetlejuice blinked his emerald green eyes open a little. Six months? that's how long he was gone? but it felt like only a week when he was in Sandwormland...

Jacques let Beetlejuice go, but Ginger continued to hug the side of his head. She lifted her head back up and looked at him. Beetlejuice looked at her from the corners of his eyes. "We were so worried for you, we thought you got eaten..." Ginger's voice faltered as she looked down. Beetlejuice took her off his shoulder and stared at her in the palm of his hands sadly.

"You thought I got eaten by a Sandworm..." he finished for her. Gingers big eyes filled up with tears as she wiped them with the back of her black hand. She nodded. "Yes," Jacques pulled out a handkerchief for her. "'ere you go mademoiselle," he said in his thick French accent. Ginger smiled a small smile as she accepted it and blew her nose.

Beetlejuice put her down on the couch and sat down next to her. "So, what happened in Sandwormland? Did you find Lydia?" asked the skeleton to the striped clad ghost. Beetlejuice sniffed as he silently nodded his head. Jacques and Ginger exchanged surprised glances. "Well? where is she? is she allright?" he asked. Beetlejuice sighed sadly and pointed out the window.

Jacques and Ginger moved away from the couch with confused looks on their faces and looked out the window. Out, across the zig- zagging roads, toward the city, Sandworms were seen coiling around buildings and rising their heads upwards to the skies, letting out their high pitch cries to the dark clouds swirling above.

Jacques and Ginger gasped in horror. Jacques quickly turned away and scrambled for the remote. He picked it up from the ground and turned the T.V. on. Beetlejuice slumped on the couch with a somber look on his face as the screen came on and showed the news reporter out in the middle of the chaos.

"That's right folks! Sandworms in the Neitherworld! There are about a hundred of them slithering through main street, disturbing the residents of the city!" cried the reporter into the microphone as he stared at the camera with a look of dread on his face. Behind him a Sandworm was seen chasing Scuzzo and Fuzzo, and further back two baby Sandworms attacking a cart full of shrunken heads, which were screaming as they scattered away from the beasts.

Then the camera zoomed in on Lydia who stood on top of the building. The winds whipping around her disguise as she screeched loudly to her Sandworms with her arms up toward the skies like a crazed lunatic. Beetlejuice pointed to the screen that showed Lydia, barely recognizable in her disturbing attire. "There's Lydia..." he said in a sad, melancholy voice. Jacques and Ginger's jaws dropped open in total shock. Lydia...the sweet living human girl from Earth...now a savage maniac that thought she was a Sandworm herself.

"Wh-What...what happened to her?!" cried Ginger. Beetlejuice's shoulders slumped as he lowered his head. "I did this to her...if I wasn't so stupid...she would have never ended up in Sandwormland..." Beetlejuice said. Jacques turned his dark, sunken eyes away from the screen and to Beetlejuice. "Oh...Be-etlejuice...don't beat yourself up over this...this is not your fault..."

Beetlejuice didn't look up at him. He didn't believe Jacques's words. He was wrong, it was his fault. He caused this mess...and Lydia wasn't there to tell him so...He missed her so much. The screams from the citizens rang in Beetlejuice's ears from the TV. "S-stay inside folks! Lock your doors and windows...The Sandworm Apocalypse has finally come..." the reporter announced to the Neitherworld.

Suddenly, a different noise was heard. A rumbling noise; which was also being heard from outside. Suddenly the whole roadhouse began to shake. Beetlejuice looked up from his lap as personal belongings from the shelves and tables began to fall and crash to the floor.

Ginger jumped into Jacques's arms. "What's happening?!" she shouted over the sound as it got louder and louder. Beetlejuice got to his feet and looked outside. The gap, it was getting bigger! On the television screen, the reporter turned his head to the gap outside of the city as well. "Hold on folks! Looks like something is happening-"

Suddenly, a geyser of black came erupting out, complete with teeth and an endless appetite. Beetlejuice's eyes widened in horror. "No!" he shouted. Ginger screamed. "What are those things?! she screeched in terror. Beetlejuice stared in horror as the leech-like creatures came raining down from the gap. "_Perolayx_..." Beetlejuice was able to choke out.

Jacques moved his sunken eyes to Beetlejuice's back. "Pardon?" he asked. Beetlejuice ignored them and watched the _perolayx_ come by the billions. The sounds of their bodies rubbing against each other, making squeak noises with their teeth gnashing in the air. The whole thing made Beetlejuice sick. Bile rose in his throat as he watched the whole thing.

"Everyone, stay inside! I t looks like a new terror has come...and its heading our way!" the reporter cried on the TV and instantly ran off screen away from the wave of black that was heading straight for the city. Beetlejuice gasped. "Lydia!" he shouted. Instantly, he bolted toward the door and out of the roadhouse.

"Beetlejuice!" Jacques and Ginger screamed; but Beetlejuice ignored them as he sprinted across the uneven streets toward the city as fast as he could. His eyes set on the one building where the crazy, Sandworm girl was...

...


	17. Chapter 17: Sandworms out of Sand

**Queen of the Sandworms**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17: Sandworms out of Sand<strong>

**...**

Lydia stared down at the new Nest that was a bunch of debris on the streets of the destroyed city. Lydia felt better knowing that her kind were safe from the horrible _perolayx..._the thought of them made her shiver. She had come close to death once or twice when she encountered those slimy slug creatures. They were nothing to mess with, so the best choice was to leave the Nest...

Lydia felt a twinge of pain in her heart as she thought of her destroyed Nest. The place she called home; now a feeding ground for the _perolayx_. Lydia narrowed her eyes and balled her hands into fists. She didn't want to leave...it was their home...their only home...but the _perolayx _were the predators. The real winds tugged at the tattered, striped ends of her Sandworm corpse disguise that was draped around her small shoulders. She rubbed her left arm from the cold.

Suddenly, she heard something from far away. It was faint, but very familiar to her ears. She turned her head sharply toward the direction and gasped in horror. The screeching high pitch sounds came from the _perolayx_ as they squirmed and wiggled over the roads toward the city. Her eyes went big as saucers from inside the mouth of the deceased baby Sandworm.

No...no It...it cant be!" she cried to herself. Edgar noticed them as well. His red eyes widened in horror. His black and white striped body coiling and uncoiling. He screeched to her, but Lydia's attention stayed on the huge tsunami wave of black alien leeches coming their way.

The rest of the Sandworms stopped in their tracks when they heard the screeching sounds as well and turned their heads. They noticed the terror that was coming their way. Their red eyes widened; crying out in terror as they began to move. The Sandworms tried diving into the streets like they used to in Saturn's sands, but instead of going through and making tunnels, they ended up smashing their noses into the hard asphalt.

The Sandworms raised their heads up and howled to the skies in agony. A couple of them shook their heads to shake the pain away. They couldn't burrow in the ground like they were used to. To get away from their dark enemies.

Lydia stared down at her poor Sandworms in shock.

"No..." she realized. The Neitherworld was a good idea to get away from the _perolayx_...unfortunately, Neitherworld city did not have any sand to bury into. The streets were hard, the environment was totally different then what the Sandworms were used to. They were like fish out of water. Sandworms out of sand. Exposed in the open, and terrified.

Edgar screeched, breaking her out of the shock. Lydia turned to him and started climbing on top of his back. The _perolayx_ came and attacked the side of the building Lydia stood on top of; digging their teeth into it and drilling through it. The building shook. Debris fell from it, just as Lydia left her feet. She cried as she felt herself falling. Her arms stretched out toward Edgar's neck. Lightly running along it.

Inside, ghosts and goblins were heard screaming inside their homes as the building rocked. Edgar screeched and quickly shifted his body and became a coil. Lydia slid down his curved body till she made it all the way down to the ground safely. The building stopped rocking and steadied itself. The dead people inside the building ran screaming out of it through the double doors and out of the city as the _perolayx_ ate through their home till there was nothing left.

Edger scooped Lydia on his head and slithered away before the creatures got to them next; crashing through debris as it littered the streets. Lydia held on to Edgar tightly. The tattered ends of her Sandworm disguise flapping behind her in the winds. Her face pressed against her loyal Sandworm's back. Tears brimmed her eyes as she watched her kind cower behind buildings from the _perolayx. _

The leech creatures devoured everything that stood in front of them. Their sharp, needle like teeth gnashing and tearing into wood, steel, concrete, and other elements in the city. Fires erupted all around as telephone wires were taken down. The dark clouds above became darker as the smoke rose up towards them, adding to the darkness.

...

Beetlejuice finally made it to the Neitherworld city. He leaned against a broken street light and placed his hands on his knees and gasped heavily. He wasn't used to running so much...only unless he was being chased. He lifted his head up and looked at the destroyed city. All the citizens of the city had already evacuated, and now was inhabited by Sandworms and _perolayx_.

Everywhere he looked he saw the leech creatures eating everything in sight. Sandworms slithered away screeching in pain as the leech creatures clung to their backs, eating away at their flesh. It was all a mess. Beetlejuice had never seen the city so trashed and destroyed before. It actually looked quite nice...except for the fact that he wasn't the one responsible for it. The sight of the creatures made him tense up and wish he was back inside his roadhouse.

Suddenly, Beetlejuice's heart jumped inside his chest when he heard a scream. "Lydia?" he found himself blurt out loud. His eyes scanned the littered streets. Then they stopped when they spotted the girl wearing the Sandworm corpse around herself.

Her, Edgar and a couple other Sandworms were seen defending themselves from a group of the dark leech creatures. The _perolayx's_ insides glowed a deep purple as they snapped their teeth blindly at the Sandworms and girl. Lydia stood in front of the_ perolayx_ with her spear, stabbing at the creatures if they came too close. One jumped toward her and grabbed onto her spear with its teeth.

Lydia gasped and tried shaking the creature off, but it held on. Its powerful jaws came down and snapped the spear in half. Lydia took a step back and chucked the broken spear at the group of advancing oil colored _perolayx._

They were defenseless.

Beetlejuice gasped in horror. "Lydia!" he screamed and found himself running at top speed to her.

Lydia looked and saw her ghost friend coming toward her. "Beetlejuice!" she cried. Beetlejuice ducked and maneuvered around the broken street lamps, turned over cars and pieces of buildings to her and the other Sandworms. His striped coat rubbed up against a couple loose nails, causing it to rip, and his shoulder bumping into car tires, slowing him down, but he continued moving forward. His eyes still on Lydia.

Lydia couldn't believe what Beetlejuice was doing in the city. She didn't want him to be there, especially with the _perolayx_ around. "No! Don't! Lydia cried over the loud noises of the crumbling city and the snapping teeth of the _perolayx._

Suddenly, the group of _perolayx_ that were attacking the girl turned their heads when they smelled the Ghost With the Most. They all belted a high pitch screech before squirming towards him. Lydia's eyes widened in horror as the group started advancing toward her friend. "Nooo! she screamed. Edgar's red eyes glowed and screamed as well.

Beetlejuice slowed to a dead stop when he noticed that something was not right. He froze. The _perolayx_ were coming right at him. Biting their way through the debris in front of him as if it were made of paper. Their glowing bellies glowing extra bright. They were hungry for a certain striped clad ghost.

Beelejuice gasped in horror and placed his hands in front of him for defense as he began to walk backwards. He tripped over a chunk of building and fell on his rear end. "Ow!" he cried out when he felt more then his back end hurt. His leg had scraped against a sharp metal piece that was lodged in the concrete chunk from the building. Pain coursed up his leg as he clutched it. The _perolayx_ didn't stop. Beetlejuice could hear Lydia's voice crying out to him. Beetlejuice mouth dropped open in a silent scream as the leeches came closer and closer.

He knew he wouldn't be able to outrun them in time. Especially with a wounded leg. He looked up to Lydia who was screaming for him to run. Beetlejuice felt tears come to his eyes as he waved for her to run and save herself. He had the group of _perolayx_ distracted. It was enough for her and the other Sandworms to leave...

"Run! Go!" Beetlejuice shouted. Beetlejuice felt his heart hurt when he saw tears run down her face. He looked away from her face sadly as he bunched up his legs close to his chest, placed his pale hands in front of his face and squeezed his eyes shut. "Goodbye, Lydia..." he said softly as tears ran down his white cheeks. Bracing for the _perolayx_ to rip into his skin-

Suddenly, he heard a loud familiar cry. He flinched. He felt the presence of a large creature in front of him. He slowly opened his tear stained eyes and gasped. Edgar loomed in between him and the leech creatures. He opened his mouth and allowed his second head to come out. Edgar roared as he blocked the _perolayx_ path from getting to the striped clad ghost. The _perolayx_ screeched in surprise when the Sandworm appeared in front of them, but it didn't stop them from taking him down.

Beetlejuice watched in horror as Edgar was attacked by the _perolayx_. His body twisting and writhing in pain. Edgar used his heads to smack the leeches away and used his tail to crush the oil colored _perolayx_, thus killing them. The ones that clung to the Sandworm's back began to sink their teeth into his black and white skin, feasting away and creating basketball sized holes. Edgar reared back his head and screamed a loud scream.

Beetlejuice's eyes became huge as he sat there, petrified in fear and shock. Soon, an anger began to bubble up inside him. He couldn't remember what happened in that split second. One moment he was on the ground staring up at the Sandworm in trouble. The next thing he knew he was floating above Edgar's head with a tingling feeling in his hands. He thre back his head and roared angrily as he clenched his fists together.

Suddenly, lightning cracked across the black sky behind him, then came down again only this time coursing through Beetlejuice's body, and down to all the perolayx in Edgar's body and all around him. The _perolayx _shrieked as the power zapped them; cooking their insides with intense heat. The creatures in Edgar's body stopped eating him and began to writhe; falling out of his body and started to spaz amongst the others that were doing the same thing. Soon, their bodies couldn't take it anymore and they exploded in a fury of shiny black slime.

Edgar's body went limp and he collapsed next to the steaming pile of _perolayx_ goo. Beetlejuice felt the lightning leave his body as he too went limp in the air and gradually floated down to the ground, exhausted and in pain. He fell next to Edgar's head onto his stomach. He forced his tired eyes open to look at Edgar. Edgar's red eyes glowed dim as he whimpered. Holes were seen all over his body and blood began oozing out of them.

Edgar stared back at the striped clad ghost next to him. He screeched softly in pain. Beetlejuice coughed and wheezed before forcing the words out. "Y-you...saved...my...life," he said weakly. Edgar shifted his head a bit as she stared at Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice used the rest of his strength to move his arm out towards Edgar. Edgar stared down at Beetlejuice's hand as it stretched out towards his nose.

Edgar used the last of his remaining strength to move his black and white striped nose closer. Beetlejuice felt his hand lightly brush up against Edgar's snout. Beetlejuice felt the Sandworm's warmth of his skin. His eyes came back up to Edgar's red ones, who were already staring back at him.

"Th-thank you...Edgar..." he said. Edgar weakly let out a soft screech. Beetlejuice smiled a small smile, which hurt him when he did, but he didn't care. Edgar, a Sandworm, saved his life. Then, Edgar shifted his head up slightly and opened his mouth, allowing his other head to come out. The white head covered in blue dots came out slowly. It's dull yellow eyes blinked before opening its mouth and stretching its tongue out.

Beetlejuice watched without feeling any fear course through him as it gave him a small lick on his face. Beetlejuice smiled and didn't bother wiping it off. Then the small head snaked back inside the striped Sandworms mouth. Edgar closed his mouth and rested his head back down. Beetlejuice stared at the Sandworm as it slowly shifted its body. More blood was seen dripping down the Sandworm's body, creating pools. Beetlejuice felt tears come to his eyes as he watched his new Sandworm friend slowly die in front of him.

He tried getting up, but felt the pain course through him. Suddenly, he heard Lydia's voice and footsteps as she came up to his body. "Beetlejuice!" she cried and wrapped her arms around his body. Beetlejuice groaned in pain. Lydia gasped and helped him upright. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into his aching chest. Beetlejuice hugged her tightly, ignoring the pain.

"I th-thought I lost..y-you," Lydia sobbed. Beetlejuice shook his head as he removed the deceased Sandworm hood-like head from hers and placed his hand behind her real head. Then Edgar screeched from behind her. She quickly turned and saw Edgar on the ground surrounded by his own blood. She gasped and quickly rushed to him. "Edgar!" she cried and wrapped her arms around his snout. Beetlejuice slowly got up and limped to the two.

Edgar screeched softly to Lydia as she cried and shook her head. Beetlejuice watched from behind Lydia. His heart ached as his mind repeated what the Sandworm did for him. He felt guilty for hating all the Sandworms...especially Edgar. He knew Edgar hated him as well, but in the end, gave up his own life to save his...

Tears ran down his face as he touched Lydia's shoulders. Lydia kissed the top of Edgar's head and screeched something to him. Edgar shifted as if nodding, then his eyes went dark, and went completely limp. Lydia continued to hug Edgar's snout as she cried into his striped scaly skin. Beetlejuice gently pulled her away from the deceased Sandworm as it began to sprinkle.

Lydia turned around and hugged Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice wrapped his arms around her. He felt her tears stain his striped jacket, but he didn't care. He lifted his head up and looked over Lydia's head and stared down at Edgar's dead body.

Wishing he could have saved Edgar's life...

...


End file.
